“WINNING THE WAR
WITH WORRY”
Series: “Inside Out”, part 10 of 12
Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:00 pm and
Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 9:00 and 11:00 am
Big Idea: The remedy for worry is rooted in a deep trust in our heavenly Father.
Bullet: Worry is about as futile as an umbrella in a hurricane.
Text: Matthew 6:25-34
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I will be continuing to update twitter when I post new sermons, or have updates on Grace events, etc.
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If you want to draw people to your mission there are a few things you can do to make your working environment attractive both to those you serve and those who serve with you:
- Choose your attitude. This is critical if you interact with anyone in any way (which we all do). If you are miserable, negative, depressing, or mean people wont want to be around you. If you are happy, warm, friendly, energetic and kind people want to be around you. We all know this is true, so why is this a problem? Too many people don’t understand that they can choose there attitude in EVERY situation. We all know we can choose to be happy when everything is going well, but do you know you can choose to be kind and energetic when you are unhappy? When you are mad? It takes some practice, but you can choose you attitude in any situation.
- Have fun and include those around you. “He who laughs most lives longest.” When was it that we decided we couldn’t have fun in our work? What will happen if you loosen up? If you actually have fun at what you are doing? This will make your work environment electric! Your team will be full of contagious energy. You can do this respectfully and be serious about what you are doing, without getting uptight by just letting things flow. The benefits are many; everyone will want to play with you.
- Be all there when you engage people. Don’t be distracted from those you are serving. Engage your mind and body fully with those you are serving. Draw them in; make them a part of what’s going on. We don’t need to ignore our teammates as we work; we just can’t exclude those we are serving! Make them part of the team while they are with you.
- Try to make peoples day. You leave an impression upon everyone you touch. The impression can be either negative or positive, it’s your choice. You can leave a positive impression after every interaction if you care enough to do so; you can make their day! What can you do to make them smile? DO IT! They will not soon forget it. Create great memories. Respectfully engage them and make them part of whats going on. This will also direct all your attention to those you are serving.
Adapting these four methods will change the way you work and how your mission is perceived.
If your friend made $4,032 each week and only invested $105 of that money towards their future (about 2.6%), what assumption would you make about their future?
I’ve read that many American fathers spend about 15 minutes / day average (105 min./week) talking with their children. There are 4032 minutes in a week, which means that many fathers are only investing 2.6% of their time in the active development of their children. What do you think we can get for a 2.6% investment?
If you are a father (or a mother), one of the most important investments you will make is in your children. As a parent, you have in your midst the potential greatness of tomorrow. If we don’t like the way the world is today, we can bring up our children to continue changing it tomorrow. The problem is, many of us are delegating this responsibility to others; the schools, sports coaches, church and childcare. Our children grow up with the values of those who raised them; who spends the most time with your kids?
No matter what we think of our leadership capability, as dads we are called to lead at home. Leadership takes time, communication and lots of commitment. What is your family worth to you? Does your investment reflect that?
“DECIDING WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT”
Series: “Inside Out”, part 9 of 12
Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 5:00 pm and
Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 9:00 and 11:00 am
Big Idea: Hold tightly to the things of God and loosely to the things of this world.
Bullet: Being poor is one of the poorest ways to help the poor. Dallas Willard
Text: Matthew 6:19-24
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I was reading one of my favorite blogs today: Tim Stevens – LeadingSmart.com and I was reminded of a very important principle; fun is important. I know play is important because it helps us be creative. We – like children – learn the most and are most creative when we are playing; fully engaged in something that has captured our attention. But Tim brings out a finer point that I tend to forget. Playing together is important because it helps us build the affinity needed for healthy teams.
This can be a challenge, not only because we are busy and often forget to make time for fun together or miss the importance of it all together, but because we are (overly) concerned about other peoples opinions. There seems to be more sensitivity to this in the church than in the work place. Many successful companies realize the productivity benefits of their teams playing together – they call this “team building” and it has been encouraged at most places I have worked. Although I have a Frisbee in my office, we don’t seem to use it much. I find myself thinking, “what would someone think if they drove by and saw a few of the staff outside tossin the disc?” I’m not going to be concerned about this anymore. In fact I am hoping for that someone brings it up, what a great teaching opportunity.
If you lead a team, spend some time enjoying life with them, it’ll change the dynamics of your team and pay off in ways you never imagined.
“CHECK YOUR MOTIVATION”
Series: “Inside Out”, part 8 of 12
Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 5:00 pm and
Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 9:00 and 11:00 am
Big Idea: It’s not just the ‘what’ but the ‘why’ that draws the applause of God.
Bullet: “I am often dramatic even ecstatic in this role I play on the stage of life. I smile, and I bow and bask in the limelight hording each moment of thunderous applause. But when the curtains have been pulled for the last time and the crowds have dispersed and the stage is dark, who will clap for me then Lord, will you?” Author Unknown
Text: Matthew 6:5-18
Lets assume for a minute that you have an amazing ministry and people are more than willing to join your team; either by seeking you out or by simple invitation. If this is the case you will find yourself in a position to be selective about team members. You will want to choose team members who are going to be fulfilled by working with your team and who you can pour into. There are four attributes you can use to help with this selection.
Attitude: most important is the attitude of your team members. Very often, attitude is the only choice we have. Even when you have no control over a situation, you can still choose your attitude. Choose team members who have a good, positive and encouraging attitude and can muster this attitude even in a bad situation.
Alignment: you will want team members who are aligned with your mission, vision and leadership. This is sometimes a little challenging to discern up front because it takes time for people to catch your vision and adjust to your leadership style. Alignment is an attribute you will want to monitor in your team and address when team members lose alignment.
Affinity: there should be some natural chemistry in your team members. This attribute is to often put second to skill. It is more important to have a team of strong players who can play together than it is to have a team of superstars. Superstars very often don’t play well with others. A team which can work together will accomplish exponentially more that the best group of superstar who won’t work together as a team.
Aptitude: You don’t always need people with a ton of experience. Successful companies know this, they spend significant amounts of money recruiting and training good, unproven people. The trick is identifying aptitude; the ability to learn what must be learned to be a part of the mission. Obviously, this will require you to work on developing the talent in your team, but this is why you exist as a team leader!
Choosing and developing your team is one of the most important thing you do as a leader; take the time to do it well.
Working with teams is one of my favorite things to do. If you have been called as a leader, you rely on at least one team of people. Teams are how we accomplish big things, those things that are bigger than what we could do alone. This is the whole idea behind leading; we lead because we recognize a problem that is bigger than us, a problem that it will take many people to solve. We each have a limited capacity to work with other people, so we develop teams to manage our working relationships. Depending on the problem you are trying to solve (your vision for a better future) you may either lead teams of individual contributors or teams of leaders. If you lead a team you should focus on two areas to make your team great.
First, invite. This is two fold. First you need to create a great working environment that creates success with those you serve. Success begets success. When you are successful in your mission, people will be attracted to your team. Next, perfect the art of inviting people onto you team. There is no substitute for hand choosing who you want as part of your team. There can only be a small number of people on your team, probably less than 12; why would you let just anyone join your team? If you have created a successful environment, you will have plenty of people to choose from. Be selective.
I will post more later about creating this environment and picking team members, but for now lets move onto the next next area of focus to develop a great team; invest. Your primary responsibility as a team leader is to develop your team members. This flies in the face of common sense. Most team leaders assume their primary responsibility is to their mission. That’s not the case, your teams primary responsibility is to the mission, yours is to your team. Remember, we have a team because the problem (vision) is to big for us to accomplish alone, therefore it is critical to have teams who can accomplish the mission. Viewing our responsibilities this way will change the way we work and how we treat our team members. Our primary thrust as team leaders is investing in the success of our team members. When we do this, our team members become wildly successful at accomplishing our mission. So, at this point you may be asking “so what if you team is of leaders? Who accomplishes the tasks that achieve your mission?” Well, if your team is made of up leaders that means they are leading others because the vision they are pursuing is to large for them to accomplish on their own, so the same principle applies. We all have an eye on the goal, it keeps us inspired and motivated, but we as leaders accomplish the goal by investing in others. Think about it this way, if you could spend your time helping 10 people be 20% more productive you will add 200% productivity to your work force. Isn’t this more than you could ever contribute on your own, doing tasks yourself? So, the question is how do we invest in our teams? That is a topic that I will save for a near future post as well. 
