Supporting the Next Generation

Mark Batterson posted this quote on his blog yesterday:

 
Evotional.com – Originality, Authenticity, Creativity via kwout

It reminded me of a point that Andy made during the last sessions at both the Drive Conference, and the Catalyst Conference.  In his talk, “Recent Random Thoughts on Leadership,” he quotes Al Reis from the book Focus – “The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.”  According to Andy, “If you’re an older leader in your organization, your job is to recognize ideas and give younger leaders the margin to pursue their ideas.”  The takeaway is:  “Be a student, not a critic.”

Are you a student or a critic of the next generation leaders in your organization?  Do you view them as the future of your organization or as a bunch of crazy, immature quasi-contributors that may not amount to anything?  Were you on the cutting edge five years ago, but now find yourself opposing new ideas?

Things to Check Out

Here’s the weekly installment of thought-provoking posts:

Craig Groeschel had some informative posts about different styles of leadership, which included strengths and weaknesses.  Read his thoughts on: Relational Leaders, Visionary Leaders, Administrative Leaders, and Innovative Leaders

Gina McClain had a guest post on the Lifechurch.tv blog this week – great stuff on planning and intentionality, read it here.

Seth Godin asked a good question – Is Effort a Myth? – and provides some challenges that might just get you ready in case you get lucky.

Casey Ross let everyone outside his “world” in on how they prioritize finances for budgets at Browns Bridge

Kem Meyer offers some words of wisdom for communicating systems changesin your organization, complete with “dos and don’ts”

Planning to Win

A friend of mine called me the other day and wanted to know if I’d talk with him about strengthening his volunteer base.  I immediately began thinking about some simple steps that he could take.  I remembered that I could give a lot of practical steps, and there could be some improvement, but if there’s not a clear vision and the systems are not planned well, then much of that advice won’t matter.

I read this quote in a post by Shane Duffey:

Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win. – Bobby Knight

How you start matters – Your plan matters – systems matter.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail (sorry for the cliche, but given the subject matter it had to be used).  If you don’t intentionally plan, then things aren’t going to happen.  Or worse, they’re going to happen, but you have no idea what the outcome is going to be.

I know, you can spend too much time on systems, structures, and planning, and never act.  There are people that have a hard time moving forward from this process, me included sometimes, but that’s no reason to adopt the ready, fire, aim approach.  For the sake of yourself, your mission, and those you lead, please do some solid planning on the front end, and continue to reevaluate regularly.

Commitment

I was reading the other morning, most likely half-awake, when I came across these words.  I was definitely awake after I read them:

“Nothing shapes your life more than the commitments you choose to make.  Your commitments can develop you or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you.  Tell me what you’re committed to, and I’ll tell you what you’ll be in twenty years.  Many are afraid to commit to anything and just drift through life.  Others make half-hearted commitments to competing values, which leads to frustration and mediocrity.”    Rick Warren

In light of these words, and in an effort to constantly evaluate and focus our lives:

• Are your commitments developing you, or destroying you?
• Have you made any half-hearted commitments?  How’s that working for you?  
• Where do you need to commit, even if it’s painful? 
• What commitments do you need to step away from for the long-term benefit of your organization, your family, and/or yourself?

Things to Check Out

Here’s a mid-week list of things that have been getting my attention:

Michael Hyatt - gives some insight into some of the collective thinking behind the financial bailout that plagues many of us everyday in our organizations.  Silver Bullet Thinking is rarely the answer, and he challenges leaders and influencers to a more stable approach to succeeding in the current environment.

Casey Ross – talks about emotional intelligence and how the leader “manages meaning“ for those they lead.  This post has already sparked some interesting conversations with some people that I interact with.  If you’re a leader, you need to understand how your responses affect the interpretation of an event for those you lead.

Seth Godin - wrote about your ability to control what you do all day with a shift in perspective – read it here;  check out this post as well on a key component to casting a compelling vision.

Brains on Fire – the brand/idea people had some ideas about how Passion Progresses.

Carey Nieuwhof – offers a good reminder in his post, Who are you Building Into?, that we should have people smarter than us influencing us.  However, it’s just as important that we spend time building into others.

I just started following a new blog – Results Junkies – so far, I’m really enjoying the content.

Podcast Resources

In the interest of being helpful, I thought I’d take a minute a list a few of the audio resources that I find valuable.  Enjoy.

Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast – I’ve mentioned this before, but you really should be subscribed to this monthly podcast.  There are lots of ideas that make you think mixed with practical, actionable steps.  You can subscribe here.

Marcus Buckingham - Take Control of Your Career and Your Life.  This podcast has eight (8) sessions approx. 20-30 min. each that give a great overview of his teaching on strengths.  You’ll get a good “big picture” view of the information you find in his books:  First, Break All the Rules; Now, Discover Your Strengths; The One Thing You Need to Know; Go, Put Your Strengths to Work.  Subscribe to the iTunes podcast here; or, if you prefer a more in-depth approach, you can go through all the material as an online workshop, complete with downloads, here.

Quick and Dirty Tips – a new favorite of mine.  These are short podcasts (4-7 minutes) with quick, helpful tips.  There are currently about eight (8) different ones each week.  Check out the website for all the quick and dirty tips network podcasts – there’s at least one podcast that you’ll find informational or interesting.  My current favorites are:  Grammar Girl, Get-it-Done-Guy, and The Public Speaker.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) Idea Cast – These are relatively short (15-20 min) and packed with information.  The content will definitely make you use your brain.  Thanks to my friend Ryan Fitzgerald for the tip on this one.  Plus, there’s a little something for everyone, past episode topics include:  Creativity at Pixar, How to Keep your Job in a Recession, Singapore Airlines Great Customer Service, and Should Managers Have a Green Hippocratic Oath.  Subscribe now.