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Tag: leadership (Page 15 of 19)

5 Natural Trends We Need To Navigate

February 10, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Life has a way of acting kind of like the ocean. Some times the tide is high and crashing in while other times the tide is so far out we can easily manage life on the shore without even getting wet. And honestly like the tides there are some predictable patterns or trends we can see coming before they actually come crashing into the shore. But unlike the patterns of high and low tides, the patterns of life can be shortened or lengthened by how we react and prepare.

There are several things about life that we all know. Life can be a struggle. It can be fun. It can feel like things are spiraling out of control. We can feel like we’re in our sweetspot when things are going well. It can be monotonous and drone on and on. And things can start to crash all in seemingly a very small span of time. So what do we do? How do we manage all this change and shifting of tides in life?

There are two basic operating principles we need to take to heart before we can navigate these trends. The first thing we need to do is acknowledge that these shifts are coming sooner or later. We can’t stop all of the change from happening around us, no matter how hard we try. The second is that we all start in a point of struggle. It’s pretty much that simple. Everything from birth to starting a business to planting a new church to starting a new job, it all starts from a point of struggle. The rest of the trends or stages will flow out of that original struggle. It’s how we react to the struggle that determines how long we’re in struggle mode.

Party Time!

Generally speaking, when we navigate out of our time of struggle, we’ll settle into a new routine and we’ll see some pretty good things happen fairly quickly. In an organization of just about any kind, this is when pretty fast growth happens. People are happy and things are generally fun in this stage.

Think of a child in the younger years when they really don’t have a much of a care in the world. Life is pretty easy for them. We feed them. Clean up after them. Rock them. They just eat, sleep and make messes that they don’t have to do anything about! It’s like party time all the time.

Storm Season

When we progress through our season of parties and fun and all the excitement of the new beginnings, we undoubtedly will have to learn to navigate through a season of storms and devastation. This season of life unfortunately doesn’t happen just once. It’s repeated off and on. This season comes when the honeymoon phase of a new thing has ended. We settle into our routines. We start to question those around us and sometimes it causes us to question ourselves. The storms can be awful. And for many of us, we quit in the middle of one of these storms, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

This phase is like those teenage years when we argue with our parents incessantly. Our parents are morons. We are awkward. Our friends are butts. Our siblings are annoying. Life is just terrible, at least in our minds anyway.

The Groove

After the season of storm we will hit the pinnacle season of life where things just seem to go well. It’s like we settle into the groove and life goes unexpectedly well. This is the phase of life that everyone wants to be in but rarely do we stay here for long periods of time. We all too often don’t recognize this phase for what it is, so we fall backward into the stormy season or slide forward into the monotonous moments to come.

This is that season of life that typically brings us through graduation and into our first job. We’re making real money and enjoying the challenges and opportunities that life provides. This season can last for a long time if it’s nurtured properly, but most of the time we overlook the blessings that this season brings.

Monotonous Moments

If we don’t challenge the status quo while in the groove, we will easily and quite quickly slip forward into a season of monotony and boredom. It’s like driving through the plains states when you’re tired. Everything looks the same and you quickly fail to see the beauty of the moments around you. The time of monotony happens when the routine becomes the rule and there’s nothing exciting in front of us.

This phase of life is kind of like what happens when we realize the dream job we fell into after graduation doesn’t have all we thought it did. It’s what happens when fail to challenge ourselves or the systems around us. Life gets boring. We fall asleep at the wheel of life. And quitting is becoming more and more appealing.

The Crash

Unfortunately, if we don’t address the challenges of monotony we’ll end up in a head on collision with this final season. It’s when we crash and burn. We can’t see any light around us. We can’t see a way out. We isolate ourselves from those who care for us. We quit the thing with which we’ve grown bored. Instead of constantly looking for new opportunities, we look for a clear and easy way out. We give up on progress, happiness and success. We simply throw in the towel. Left unchecked this season can lead to some very serious personal issues with depression.

There are probably more seasons of life than just these few but in my experience these are some key markers to look out for in life. The point in sharing this is to make us aware of what’s going on. I find that when I know what to look out for I’m less likely to fall into it. Like a pothole on the road that I will swirve to miss, these seasons are some that I can be better prepared to maneuver through and around.

Are You Beating Yourself?

February 4, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I think there are times in life when we actually do ourselves more harm than good. I mean we have great intentions but when we really look at it we haven’t done much good at all. As a matter of fact, the good we thought we were doing was actually undone by the negative things caused by our actions. Ok that’s ambiguous so let’s dive in a little more.

The thoughts that follow are my observations from my own life and ministry. These are my failures. They are things I’ve had to work through on a variety of levels. And they are things that I still monitor closely to make sure I don’t fall back into some of these same bad habits and destructive ideas again.

You are not God.

Now that goes without saying but the issue is that we don’t live like this. Ok so admittedly we don’t necessarily go through life thinking we’re God, but we often make decisions and plans acting as if we are the most important person in the world. We pursue things that are all about personal happiness and individual success. We seek attention and put ourselves on a pedestal as if we’re the most important person in the room or universe. Believe me, I know a few of those too.

Friend it’s not about you. If you’re a leader of a team, parent, spouse or even friend to someone – you are not the point. A good friend, teammate, employer, parent or spouse will make decisions and go in directions that put the other person first. If we want to set ourselves and those around us up for the greatest success, start putting their needs before your own and watch how not only do their needs get met but yours will also!

The more you work, the less you get done.

This one sounds a bit like an oxymoron but it’s also very true. It’s kind of like that line they say on airplanes about the oxygen masks. If you’re traveling with small children, please secure the oxygen mask to yourself before placing it on your child. For the longest time I found this to be wildly insensitive and a horribly wrong practice! I mean who in the world is going to watch their child suffocate while they get the good air?! So I asked one of those friendly Southwest flight attendants why in the world this was the rule. They were patient with my stupidity and didn’t make me feel like too much of an idiot in their answer. She simply told me that if I couldn’t breathe, how could I make sure my child was breathing? Wow. Then it all started to click. Side note: I wasn’t even traveling with children which made my question that much more strange.

Back to over working. So the whole put the mask on the child thing is like taking a needed rest in order to be more productive. It doesn’t make sense until you ask a few questions. Then step back and realize that like a parent with no oxygen can’t help their child, so also a person who’s overworked and exhausted can’t focus on the job at hand and will likely not be productive nor effective. Getting the rest you need and stepping away from the task at hand for a minute is often the most powerful way to get more done.

Give yourself traveling time.

I have a tendency to stack appointments in my calendar pretty tight. I know how long it takes me to get from one place to another under normal conditions. And when I have to be somewhere I generally like to arrive on time, which for me is about 5-7 minutes early. But there are those times when we stack so many things so tightly in our calendar that we just can’t get it all done. We have no time to get from point A to point B.

This is also true with general calendaring without travel. The premise is that we tend to stack our appointments or tasks so tightly that there’s no breathing room at all. We move from task to task without giving our brains a chance to change gears. We run from one project to a totally unrelated project and wonder why our mind feels like mush at the end of the day.

There’s nothing wrong with stepping away for even as little as 3 minutes to use the bathroom, walk down the hallway, listen to music, close your eyes or just stare off into space. These are simple techniques that can clear your mind and let your brain get the space it needs to restart in a different gear.


Diversify your diet.

Now this one might be a tad misleading, so let me explain. I am not talking about your food diet, although that’s very important as well. I’m referring to the diet of information that you feed yourself. If you continually feed your brain with the same content over and over without any variation, you’re going to be mentally malnourished to say the least. It’s like eating crackers all the time with no protein or vegetables. You just won’t perform at your peak.

The same is true for what we put into our minds. I tend to read or listen to a variety of books. Some of these are books related to my field as a pastor. Others are leadership books. Others are on finance or parenting or how to understand what’s going on in my preteen daughter’s mind (ok so there’s really nothing that will help with that one but it’s worth a shot). The point is to try to look at the world around you through the many lenses at your disposal. Consuming content from a variety of sources helps you see not only your thought process more clearly, but also helps you appreciate where others are coming from and have more intelligent conversations about topics on which you disagree.

These are just a few of the many things I’ve had to learn the hard way in life. I hope they are somewhat helpful to you and provide you with a shortcut of sorts to not stay stagnant.

Self Care Is NOT Selfish

February 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments
77 Self-Care Quotes to Remind You to Take Care of Yourself

So it’s no secret the season of life we’re in currently isn’t the easiest thing we’ve dealt with as leaders. If you’re in charge of any group of people or in a management role or guiding people to a preferred future then you’re a leader. Parents are leaders. Business people are leaders. Often in every friend group there’s a leader. We are all leaders in some area of our lives. The question isn’t if we’re leaders but whom are we leading? You don’t have to like the idea of leadership but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re a leader. So how can leaders take care of themselves to be better at the task in front of them?

When leadership gets challenging there are a few things that we need to do to make sure we’re leading appropriately and most effectively. We’ll call it self care. And no matter what you think of when you hear the term self-care, it’s not about being selfish at all. Self care is all about making sure you’re best qualified and prepared to handle whatever problems arise.

Always on is quickly off.

Leadership isn’t a task we can do in an hour. It’s something that weighs on us constantly. We climb into bed and just want to fall asleep peacefully, but the nagging issues of leadership start picking off the sheep we’re trying to count. We live in a culture where technology is making us so easily accessible that we quite literally can’t ever step away. We can be called day or night. Even a trip to a sunny beach somewhere isn’t safe, because email still works there too!

Being always on and always within reach will quickly lead to burn out, fatigue and poor decision making. The weight and burdens of leadership are constantly on our shoulders. You need to find someone in whom you can confide to help you carry those burdens. Keep a journal of sorts to write down the things causing anxiety. Make lists in written or electronic form that you can come back to so you’re not obsessing over little tasks needing completed.

Get some real rest.

I know that many people don’t get the sleep they need to function properly, and I’m one of those people. I’ve made the excuse that I can run on less sleep than many and for the most part that is true. But we all need sleep and we need to listen to our bodies, stress levels, and family members who can see things in us that we can’t see in ourselves.

I’m not going to preach at you to get 8 hours of sleep since I don’t do that myself. But find regular rhythms of rest in your life. Learn the habits of stopping to just breathe throughout your day. There are days when I just sit at my desk and close my eyes to empty my mind for 3 minutes. It makes a world of difference!

But more than just getting a good night of sleep or pausing for a quick power up, we also need regular down time. Some call them days off. Others call them a sabbatical. Others call it vacation. Whatever it is you need to find a way to step away from the pressures of leading and recharge. Take a day every week and if possible at least a week every year to learn how to refocus. Real rest leads to real results. Really!

Keep your priorities straight.

When we have a lot of responsibility at work, it’s easy to let that kind of bleed into every other area of our lives. It’s all too easy to bring our work home or worse yet live like we’re married to our job. There is a pretty clear line of priority that we need to follow. And if we get this ordering out of whack it will yield some pretty nasty results.

Here’s the short version: faith first, family second, self health third, job last. If you’re living in a pattern of life that has your priorities in any other ordering then you’re setting yourself up for some signifiant harm. Getting this wrong will destroy your marriage, abandon your family, effect your health, and break the trust you’ve established in your relationships/friendships. I cannot stress this one enough. Your work does not own you so don’t live like it does.

Diet and exercise aren’t just for weight loss.

The final thing we need to look at when it comes to self care for those in any leadership role is the area of physical health. Leading is stressful whether you’re leading your kids, your family, your business, your friends, or any other place you find yourself. Leadership is stressful at times and having a healthy outlet for that stress is critical. This means we need to manage our food intake properly. And we need to manage our energy output appropriately.

Having a regular food check and exercise regimen is pretty important. Stress often leads to eating poorly and all sorts of other bodily issues like muscle tension and blood pressure issues to name just two. When we keep our eating right and we take time to do some form of exercise, even if it’s just a walk around the block or at the mall, we’ll see noticeable changes in how we handle stress. And our overall health will be positively impacted.

Getting help is not weak.

Finally we need to realize that we’re not superheroes. We cannot do it all. And leaders need help. Do you have someone you can confide in? Do you have a therapist or a counselor or someone with whom you can speak about personal matters that weigh on your heart? Just know there is nothing wrong with getting help. There’s nothing weak about admitting you can’t do something. There’s no shame in getting some form of therapy or counseling to help you balance what’s going on in your mind and heart.

So there you have it. Not an exhaustive list by any means but a few things leaders can do to manage the challenges of life and take a little time for self care, because self care is not selfish it’s actually selfless if done right.

The Spiderman Leader

December 28, 2021 / / 0 Comments

The new Spiderman movie was released recently and it has taken the box office by storm! While I haven’t seen the movie yet, I have heard some pretty stellar reviews to say the least. The Spiderman saga has been a pretty good series of movies from my perspective and I’m excited to be able to see this one soon. But as I consider the movies I have seen, one thought stands out at me from these movies. It has to be my favorite quote from the series.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Spiderman

Leadership is a pretty challenging thing, especially in our world today. Being a leader of any organization is not fun when you can’t see where you’re headed and don’t know what to expect. The graphic above contains a quote from Peter Scazzero who wrote a series of works title Emotionally Healthy_____. The blank is for the different topics he’s written on over the years from spirituality to discipleship and much more.

A person who’s in leadership, whether they want to be or not, has a great responsibility and weight on their shoulders. As leaders, we’re responsible for casting a vision for a preferred future and making corrective action as problems arise. Good leaders will even anticipate challenges before they arise. The closer to the top of an organization you rise, the more power you have. And the more power you have, according to Peter Parker, the more responsibility you must shoulder.

Something that’s become fairly evident through the past 24 months of life challenges is that many leaders are wanting the power but lacking the maturity. They have the obligations but lack the desire and intestinal-fortitude to get the job done. There are a lot of immature leaders in the world and in the church these days.

The above quote from Scazzero is a reminder that each of us have inner demons with which we have to wrestle. We have to work through our challenges and find creative and effective ways to manage the troubles in life. If it’s true that higher levels of leadership, power and responsibility bring out deeper levels of inner struggle, then we as leaders need to surround ourselves with some key people.

I strongly recommend something that was shared with me years ago. It’s called a personal board of directors. No, it’s not nearly as formal as it sounds, but it is very important. I have people in my circle whose opinion I value in different areas of life. They are friends or voices who I respect and who are able to challenge me because they are professionals in their respective fields. I used to call on these people all the time. And admittedly, I don’t use them nearly as much as I used to, until life explodes.

As a leader, it’s important to know your weaknesses and fill your life with people who are strong in those areas. You don’t need a board of directors for your personal life, but you do need the self awareness to know when you can’t do something. I’ve seen far too many leaders do far too much damage to their organization by permanently taking on a task that isn’t theirs to do. This is called micromanaging. I did it for a while and it was awful! I suck at many things in life and the sooner you as a leader can realize what you just flat suck at doing, the better your organization will be.

So the long and short is that you have the power you have for a reason. Use it wisely. Wield that power with the responsibility that it warrants. And be honest with yourself and those around you when you just are in over your head. It eliminates a lot of stress and your organization will flourish when you get the right people in the right places in your organization.

A Culture Lusting To Be Offended

November 2, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It should be no secret that being offended is almost like a new drug in our culture. I don’t really understand it. I mean I get a nice cold beverage on a hot summer day. I can even see someone grabbing a scratch off ticket just out of curiosity if they might win a few dollars. But I’ve never understood some of the other addictions in the world. I know being addicted is an illness and it’s not something you can just get over on your own either. It takes work and help…lots of help.

But there’s a newish trend in our culture right now that has elevated a new addiction above some of the bigger more glamorous ones. It’s the addiction to being offended. I see this all the time. From friends to neighbors to family members, people just have a new desire to be upset.

Now when it comes to being offended there are two sides. There’s the one who is offended and the person who gave the offense. So who’s at fault? Something to remember that is challenging in the moment.

Just because you take offense does not mean it was given.

I know that sounds like an oxymoron but think about it. Have you ever had someone talk to you and you just got all bent out of shape because of some external circumstance that had little to nothing to do with the person who was talking to you? This is that very thing. When you’re offended here are some keys to dealing with that feeling of offense.

What do I know about the person?

One idea to consider when dealing with an offense is to evaluate the relationship you have with the individual or group of people. How well do you know them? Is the way you’re taking this event consistent with how they have treated you in the past? Could they be dealing with something of which you’re unaware?

What’s going on in my heart?

Another thing to consider is yourself. You see a lot of the time when we are offended we are struggling with something of our own and it’s just easier to emotionally throw up on someone else than deal with our own heart. So before you let someone’s words or actions cause you to say/do something you can’t take back, make sure you do a little introspection. What are you going through? What is eating at your heart? What emotion are you struggling with that you haven’t fully addressed?

Is what I heard actually what was said?

This is a hard one, probably the hardest one of all. It’s super easy to infuse our own thoughts and concerns and emotions into someone else’s communication with us. It’s super hard to objectively step back and offer an honest assessment of a situation at which we might be at fault. This is why I have made it a practice to follow most of my harder conversations by writing a verbatim, or as close as possible to a word for word account of what was said as I am able. Remove all emotion. I don’t write down tone of voice or body language just the words that were actually said as close to verbatim as I possibly can get. This has helped me numerous times diffuse my own offense addiction. When I can re-read what was actually said it forces me to remove my preconceived ideas and disconnect my emotion from the situation.

The long and short is simple. Just because you feel offended does NOT mean someone offended you. Perhaps their words were heard in a way that wasn’t what you had hoped to hear. Perhaps what you heard wasn’t actually said. Or perhaps there’s more to the story that you can’t see because you’re just too close. No matter. If an offense is made either by someone else or by you, seek restoration quickly because the longer you go having been offended the more it will eventually effect your other relationships as well.

Beyond Grateful

November 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It’s November and that brings a month of Thanksgiving but it also brings to a close the month known in church circles as Pastor Appreciation Month. And you all are great! You’ve done so many wonderful things to make me feel, well appreciated.

You’ve given cards and gift cards and goodies galore! I loved the little hand written notes. The cookies were delicious! And I so look forward to using the gift cards. Thank you all so very much!

But there’s something that I value even more than these items of your appreciation. I value so very highly how you’ve dug in deep these past 18 months. When life got challenging and when things didn’t go the way you wanted them to go, you still stepped in and grabbed the situation and got involved. Thank you!

You found the areas where your passion, values and skills lined up with the mission of the church and you volunteered by taking on a new position. You saw things that needed done and just did them without asking. Thank you!

But even more than all of these things is your participation in worship. You didn’t give up. You didn’t let the distance cause division. You truly demonstrated what it meant to be a church member. A church member is much like a family member. We expect them to do more than eat the food and sit on the couch. We expect our children to clean up their dishes and keep their rooms clean. We have expectations of them participating in gatherings and getting involved. The bible talks about the assembly of God’s people like that of a family or a body. We all have a part to play. So thank you for participating in the family!

You have made life and ministry such a joy even in the midst of a fairly chaotic and challenging time. Knowing that your family has your back means the world! Knowing that even when you get things wrong, you have people who love and care for you enough to stand by your side to help you see the wrong and the right is pretty amazing!

So as we begin this month of thankfulness know that I am starting this month thankful for you and the way you’ve stood on your confession of faith. I’m thankful for your partnership in the gospel. I’m thankful for the way you are willing to stand in the gaps and do uncomfortable things so that the world might know the love of Jesus. You are amazing! Keep it up family! There is a lot to be thankful for and some pretty amazing opportunities and challenges already lined up for 2022!

Identity & Action

October 27, 2021 / / 0 Comments

There are two things that are at odds in most of our lives. Who we are and what we do. Sometimes we let what we do define who we are. But then what happens when we fail? The goal of this post is to help you see past what you do to the reality of who you are.

When we look at our lives it’s easy to get a tad discouraged. There is always someone who is better than us. There is always someone who is faster than us or more efficient than we are at a given task. It doesn’t take much effort to find the shortcomings in our lives, and if our identity is determined by our action then we are in trouble!

However, if we step back from our actions for a moment and realize that our identity is found outside of our accomplishments and failures we will have a better grasp on what is most important. So in short…

Who you are is not determined by what you do but what you do determines who you are. Share on X

When we get our identity and our actions out of order, we quickly lose focus of that which is most important. In the church world, we like to use the word covenant to describe who we are in relation to God. He made a covenant with us that doesn’t rely on what we do but on who he is and what he does for us. It’s all about our identity. It means that who we are is determined apart from what we do. It’s this reality that gives us the title Child of God. It’s this reality that invites us into a deeper relationship with him. God’s covenant with us draws us into a place where his love and care transform who we are regardless of our past.

So if the identity part is determined by God then the action piece of our lives should be determined by our understanding of identity. We call that kingdom. It means that God has invited us into a relationship with him and given us a place in his kingdom. When we have a place in a ruling kingdom, it means we have authority and power and responsibility. This is no different in our relationship with God. He not only calls us children, but also freely gives us all of the resources that are at his disposal. So if he loves us before we do anything then why do we have to do anything?

You see we live out our identity through actions because his love for us doesn’t want us to stay in an ok state. He wants more for us than to survive. He wants us to thrive! This is why he calls us victorious. He gave us the victory over the less than stellar moments in our lives. When our identity is grounded in God’s love for us, then our actions will look like that new identity.

I know, we all mess up. We all fail. We all do things we will one day regret. Those moments are not defining moments. Let the grace of Christ define you. And let this new identity determine how you live.

Change

October 5, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Change ahead sign

So we all like to have options. We like to be able to chart our own course and pave our own way as the saying goes. We love to be able to look to the life we’ve mounted for ourselves and decide what we want to do with the life we have to live.

We live in a time in which we like to create options when options aren’t necessary. I mean seriously, do you really need to recreate the wheel when the wheel is working just fine? I was talking to someone the other day about a change he was trying to make in his routine. I was struck by the fact that this individual didn’t even know why he was making the change. Change for change sake is not really a good idea.

The problem with changing things up when you don’t really have a good reason to change them is that change causes turmoil, brokenness and conflict. By nature we don’t like change, so bringing change to a situation that is charged with uncertainty will only make the uncertainty greater. It’s the old adage if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. How true is that statement?

Think about it, you don’t change the tire in your car just because you feel like it. You wait until the tread is worn thing or it goes flat. Change for change sake just makes life harder than it has to be.

But there is a time when change is needed. When the system isn’t working. When harm is being inflicted. When someone, including yourself, is in danger. When a better, more productive method is present. These are some of the times when change is not only warranted but even encouraged.

When it comes time to bring change into your life, make sure to go slowly. All too often when it comes to change, we either refuse to change and stay in a harmful situation, throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak, or change something that isn’t the real problem.

Before you make decisions on what needs to change and what doesn’t remember the car analogy. You have to evaluate the real problem, assess the size of the problem, then fix the problem (keep in mind you may need to seek help to fix some problems).

Evaluate the problem.

If your car has one of those cool indicator lights on the dashboard, it might tell you that you need an oil change. When that little dummy light turns on, it’s saying hey dummy change oil. Sometimes we rush into our troubles and address the wrong problem. We feel like something isn’t right or see something that is just a little off so we run away from everything we know to be true. That’s like seeing a light turn on in the dashboard and thinking our car is going to blow so you trade it in for a new one when all it needed was an oil change. Don’t overreact to the dummy lights in your life. If you slow down you’ll see more clearly the problem they are indicating.

Assess the size of the problem

When we realize what the problem is then we can determine who can address the problem. Some problems we can easily manage, others we can’t. When we assess the size of the problem we honestly, truthfully seek to find the best possible outcome for the problem at hand. It is often helpful in this stage to invite someone you trust to come alongside you to ask you some questions to help clarify what you’re seeing. In the car situation above, this is looking at the owner’s manual to see what the little light means, calling a friend who’s a mechanic, or even taking it somewhere to have one of those cool code readers attached to help diagnose the problem. We don’t need to go changing oil in a car that has low tire pressure. Seeing the size of the problem will help you better understand how and who can fix it.

Fix the problem

When you’ve effectively evaluated the situation, determined the problem and its size and know who can fix it. You need to make the appointment or set the time aside in your schedule and just get the job done. I’ve seen many people, read the indicator light correctly, realize who can fix the problem, but then they don’t do anything with the problem. They let it just sit there and fester and grow and get out of hand. The longer the problem sits without being taken care of the bigger it gets and likely the more damage is done. Remember the car scenario…know what happens when you don’t change the oil as you’re supposed to? Maybe nothing today or tomorrow but if you go long enough you can tear apart an engine. The same is true of your problems. If we don’t fix the right problem, we’ll end up with a lot of expense and be no better off. Likewise if we know the problem and do nothing we’ll be living in the carnage of our laziness.

So change sucks sometimes but when we’re honest, methodical, and intentional about the situation we’ll end up with a well oiled machine called life that we can drive. (Yeah I know bad pun but I’m a dad so what can you expect.)

There you have it. Change is hard but the right change at the right time by the right person is essential.

Decision Fatigue

August 24, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I’ve noticed a trend lately in leadership circles in which I run. Leaders have been making so many decisions at such a rapid pace, that decision fatigue is sinking in and many leaders have simply stopped making decisions. They’ve settled for sitting in the I’m thinking about it phase. They’re stuck in the information gathering and mentally processing of data stages. 

While these are important to be sure, because we never want to go off half cracked and make a decision without thoroughly thinking it through; there comes a time when we have to just make a move and trust our instincts. Now if you’re a person of faith, we call that moving forward in faith. But I don’t want to assume everyone who reads this is a person of faith. So think of it as going with your gut. 

My sixth grade teacher always told us when we were taking tests that our first instinct on an test question was 80% of the time going to be the right answer. If this is right, then moving forward with the gut decision is something that will more often than not benefit us and those we lead. 

But why do we not make decisions? Why do we sit in the thinking phase for so long? Below are three key reasons why we fail to make decisions, and some suggestions for how to move through this phase more efficiently. 

Fear Of Making The Wrong Choice

This is probably the most common issue that I see leaders facing. Deciding not to move forward because we’re afraid it’s the wrong decision only cripples all forward movement. When we stop moving forward or pivoting through challenging times, we lose momentum. It’s actually a matter of simple physics. An object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest. Now there are some external circumstances that play into this, but once we let our movement stop it’s far more challenging to get things moving again. 

Think about a car when it stalls. If you’ve ever run out of gas while driving and needed to push your car to the closest parking lot, you know how hard it can be to get the car moving initially. But once you get those wheels turning the force needed to keep it moving is significantly less labor intensive. 

I’ll be totally honest. I hate to fail. I hate making wrong decisions, but I hate even more being in a state of constant inertia. Sitting around not moving causes so much anxiety and it is exhausting. Friends, it is far easier to change directions or make corrections to your course if you’re moving. Even if you make a mistake. Even if the direction you choose turns out not to be what you thought, it’s far easier to make corrective action as long as you never stopped moving. 

If you’re stuck in this mindset, take a moment to consider that one small step you can make. Find someone to hold you accountable to making the move. Check in regularly with your team to ensure the desired shift is actually yielding the change you’re hoping it will make. But most of all, just move. Small steps are better than no steps. 

A Change Isn’t Really Needed

Some would say that I like change, but they really couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t like change at all. It’s uncomfortable and painful to say the very least. But when a change is needed it’s absolutely necessary to move. The challenge however is when we wrestle with a total change when a mere heart shift will work. 

More often than not, we lose steam and think a revamp of a whole system is needed when all we really need to do is turn the dial a little bit. Not all changes entail throwing out whole systems and starting from scratch. As a matter of fact the change we need to make might be simply moving personnel to different roles or changing the layout of our communication structures. Sometimes flipping two steps in a process will yield tremendous results in shorting the gap between the desired outcome and the actual outcome. 

When you’re approaching change and the change looks daunting, carefully evaluate with the team if the whole change is necessary? Ask if there are smaller changes that can be made to incrementally get you to the place you’re hoping to arrive. Be flexible with your change. You never know what’s around the corner until you get there. 

We’re Just Plain Lazy

The hardest one of these to type is that of the lazy leader. Lazy leaders are uncaring. They have the skills to lead an organization into a great direction, but instead of doing the hard thing and making decisions and stepping forward in action…they stall. They don’t move. They clam up. They sit back and wait for the perfect scenario in which they might move forward. 

Lazy leaders aren’t leaders. They’re leeches. They suck the life out of an organization. If you’re a leader and you’re not moving forward, making decisions, leading through the challenges, then perhaps your presence is actually detracting from the life of the organization instead of just passively watching things unfold. 

No action is often far worse than making the wrong action. Leaders it’s time to rise up and lead again. It’s time to research your options and move. Too many good leaders settle for good when great is attainable. Lead. Step forward. Pivot. Keep your eyes open and you just might move into a future you couldn’t even have predicted for yourself. 

Make Your Move Already!

August 18, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I have a confession to make. I’m not a patient person. I am not one who likes to waffle on actions. I don’t take a super long time to navigate the options. Now I don’t usually go around half cracked making stupid mistakes continuously either! But there is a time when we just need to make our move.

Maybe it’s because of how I was raised? Maybe it’s because I’m a type-A personality. Maybe it’s because I’m just an insensitive jerk? I don’t really know why but I really believe that not doing anything is often far worse than doing something and failing. We are so afraid of making a wrong decision that we waffle for so long. My dad was always a direct kind of guy, and he might not like it when I share this so sorry in advance Dad if you’re reading this. We used to have a saying in our house when it came to making decisions that’s a tad crass so forgive me. Either crap or get off the pot. You just have to make a move. And I think there is really something here.

I mean seriously what good does it do anyone to just sit around on the toilet! None! Absolutely none. The seat isn’t comfortable. The atmosphere isn’t all that great. The only benefit is if you’re a parent of small children, that might be the only place you can go to escape for a few minutes!

Ok seriously though, discernment isn’t easy for many people and I totally understand that. But to be fair the longer you sit around waiting to make a decision, the more you’re negatively impacting everyone in your life! You’re stressed because you have a decision to make. Those around you are tired of you being on edge because you have a decision to make. Your friends are probably catching either the complaints about the situation, the constant drone of fear and anxiety in your conversations. People who care about you and who are willing to step in to lend a hand through the time of challenge are growing weary as they wait for you to essentially get off the pot!

Failing is not fun. Making a mistake is not something anyone wants to do, but in our mistakes we find our greatest learning moments. If you’re not willing to make your move and just do something, then you’ll end up growing so confused and stagnant and isolate yourself from the very people who are there to help you and support you.

If you’re a leader and you’re struggling with making a big move, stop focusing on the big move. Just take one step. Then look for the next place you’re going to put your foot. Then the next and the next. The longer we sit there and wait for the perfect option to be dropped out of the heavens, the greater the problem becomes and the more complicated any solution becomes.

Just move. Do something. Put one foot in front of the other and before long you will be shocked how far you’ve gone. Think about weight loss. You aren’t going to start a diet and lost 40lbs overnight. You’re going to make incremental changes.

So the decision looming in front of you…move! Anywhere! Just do something. Failure is only a problem if it stops you and you don’t learn anything from it. So for crying out loud please just do something. Commit to it and move toward it!

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