Distractions! Argh!

They may be the bane of my existence. I can be distracted by so many things. I go outside to mow the grass and I’m distracted by the stoop that needs painting. The screen door needs washing. Before I know it, I’m rushing and striving to accomplish everything. Mow, weed, fertilize, clean the garage, trim, fix the edger, repaint the concrete, replace the bricks, till the garden, make the fire-pit, trim the shrubs, and power-wash the siding.

Why did I ever decide to go outside to mow?

Right now all of those chores are on my maintenance list. Actually there is probably a lot more.

What’s the use? Every time I walk outside numerous items beckon for my attention. So what do I do? I tackle the mission critical things first. Grass has got to be mowed. The other things need attention, but the grass has got to be mowed! Then a little evaluation helps me make the next choices.

I’ve got another hour free, what can I accomplish in that hour that will have the biggest bang for the effort?

 Fix the edger and edge
 Paint the trim
 Build a fire pit

The edger won the day. But if we were having a BBQ it might have been the fire-pit. If we were having an open house, it would have been the trim.

Leaders understand this principle. What do they give their time to in a world where so many distractions call for their attention?

Mission Critical takes priority
– The A list is a smart evaluation of time, resources and circumstances that determine…
– The B list which is the “getting done” list, that leads to…
– The C list which is “when the time is right” list.

Good leaders succeed because they are good at their ABC’s.

He Must Increase

He must increase, I must decrease. John 3:30

He gives me my truest dimensions in a world of pretenders.

“Love is my legal jurisdiction.” David Teems
-- The margins that surround my life, the guardrails that limit the road I travel. The compass rose upon the map that defines my life. It must be my book of etiquette, the Book of Hoyle, my worn Robert’s Rules of Order, the by-laws of my character. Without its refining power in my life, I become a clanging cymbal, a blasting horn, a blowing wind.

Love must permeate my being, saturate my soul, season every relationship, scent every act, flavor every moment. It must be my highest goal, my greatest dream, my purest pursuit, my self-fulfilling prophecy.

To be self-actualized in love—transformed—an agent of transformation—to be love in an often loveless world.

For me to live is, no must be, Christ.

Crocus in the Snow

It’s been a strange spring. A few weeks ago warmth finally arrived to northern Ohio and cabin weary citizens flowed out of their hibernation homes into their yards. Rakes, wheelbarrows and mulch were ubiquitous. As flower beds were prepared, twigs gathered and yards fertilized, neighbors called out to one another.

“So glad there is no more snow!”
“It’s great to be outside!”
“What a wonderful day!”

Like so many around me I felt the revitalization of the emerging season. Winter was past. Then it occurred. Shocking the community, just as we seemed to have turned the corner from winter to spring, it snowed. Not just flurries, walks were covered and lawns turned white. Rakes were traded for snow shovels once again.

It seemed like everyone around me was in a funk. Complaints and expressions of disgust with the weather were commonplace. But while I didn’t enjoy digging out a warm jacket again, I was far from discouraged. All around me were signs of winter’s passing and spring’s advent. Poking defiantly through a blanket of snow were the purple and yellow heads of spring crocuses. Spring was arriving. I was encouraged.

Leaders recognize this phenomenon and find similar encouragement.

Sometimes we labor, strategize, implement plans and visions to help our groups, lead our businesses, and guide our ministries out of winter into a coming spring. Then just when it seems like the cold hard days of winter are giving way to spring, it happens--a late season snowstorm.

 A set back in our plans
 A program fails
 A down turn in growth
 An old problem resurges

Frustrating? Yes. But even in the face of set backs, leaders learn to focus on the signs of spring. Sometimes it doesn’t take much, just a few little things poking up through storm.

Are you in the midst of a late season storm? Look for signs of the coming spring.

Choose Well

This is my first rambling back in the window since I’ve taken my father back to N.Y. I began that day noting a sense of gratefulness that my schedule would finally return to normal. Then I realized by normal, I meant in my control.

No more quick trips back to the house to get him up in the morning. No more times washing his feet, applying cream, fixing breakfast or rushing to fix lunch. And I am grateful for that.

But, I am also sorry that he isn’t here, that we won’t get those afternoon drives, and those dinners together.

I buried a man’s wife yesterday; a woman nearly the age of my parents. I knew her boys. I saw their tears, the pain in their hearts. Her death came quickly. The onset of pneumonia, kidney failure, heart arrhythmia, and suddenly she was gone.

Both events, taking my dad home and the funeral remind me of important lessons.

Leaders know days and time are precious. Events can change quickly. Opportunities are missed. We must choose well. I chose to have my dad with us for 4 months. Reminded that life is uncertain and can end swiftly, I am confident I chose well.

The choice- Leaders do it well.

Dead Leaves

Saw a leadership principle at work yesterday. My wife had a free day and desired to do some outside work, so she spent the morning raking dead leaves out of the flowerbed.

Our front beds are filled with crocuses, irises, daylilies, daffodils, tulips and many other spring perennials. They will come up and bloom with little work. They are established plants; every year dependable.

But lying all around them are the few scattered remnants of the fall foliage. Dead leaves now brown and withered and looking pathetic. Clearing them away, the colors of the new plants just pop.

Sometimes as a leader we need to clear away some of the “dead leaves” around us. Sometimes before the beauty of new growth, a new initiative, a new strategy can be discovered and truly appreciated. Some of the old dying or dead things need to be cleaned away.

Have you looked around the flower beds over which you have care? Is it time to break out a rake?

St. Patrick Who?

I sat in the coffee house the other day, and overheard an interesting conversation. It was the day after St. Patrick’s Day. The day after the wearing of the green. The day after green beer in NYC and Chicago. The day after the “Kiss Me I’m Irish” pins, the day after “The Everybody Is A Little Irish Today” signs went up. I realized how true it was that so few of us know anything about the day, the man St. Patrick.
We know he’s English and one of the patron saints of Ireland. He had something to do with snakes, didn’t he?
In the midst of the wearing of the green, it is too bad we cannot see the character that shaped the man we call Saint.
This was his prayer.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ under me, Christ over me, Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me, Christ in lying down, Christ in sitting, Christ in rising up. Christ in the heart of all who may think of me! Christ in the mouth of all who may speak of me! Christ in every eye which may look on me! Christ in every ear which may hear me!
No wonder they called him Saint.
What prayer shapes your life?

Lessons from the Snow Bank

Wow, did it snow last weekend! It started at about noon on Friday and snowed through Saturday evening. By the time it was over, 19.7 official inches of snow lay on the ground in our area. Throughout the storm I was being reminded of important leadership lessons.

Sometimes no matter how well you plan, you can’t stop a storm. Good leaders try to head off storms through good planning and management of resources. Costs are weighed, risks analyzed and decisions made, but sometimes you can’t stop a storm. For about 30 hours snow fell and nothing could stop it. Well laid plans for a men’s retreat were hampered and Sunday morning services were impacted. Both were events that had been well thought out and planned, but each was at the mercy of the storm. All we could do is let the storm pass and begin to dig out.

Every leader will eventually find himself at the mercy of a leadership storm. A time when circumstances cannot be altered, only faced and endured. Some leadership storms will occur just because circumstances arise. I remember a leadership storm over the qualifications of an elder that blew up at our last church. No one foresaw it coming, but once is began nothing could stop it. All that could be done is face the storm, let it pass and dig out from under it.

Facing a storm is not necessarily a sign of incompetence; some storms simply cannot be avoided. They can be frustrating, a lot of work and they can force us to change plans, but they are not necessarily a sign of failure.
Good leaders know that eventually storms will blow. When they come they are not afraid of the snow.

The Man in the Frosty Window