THE QUIVER: (where the points are stored)
Life Update: Big news, small news
God Dances Again: The greatest
Dancer makes an encore
The Circle: Finding acceptance
Seedless Oranges,
Seedless Grapes, Seedless Leaders: A call to be fruitful
I Will to Wait: A special song
God Wants to Touch You:
Closing words
Hi, everyone,
My Point of View... human perspectives of a world designed by God and modified by mankind. Sometimes we think we're doing things right, but who can improve on God? I spent a weekend in January at a camp in Balandra, with a group of fifth form students. They attend the high school that shares the campus with the college.
This edition, some of my reflections are based upon the weekend's experiences.
* * * * * * * *
Well, actually, that's what it was to be, but it's been so long since that weekend, that a few other things have crept in.
I think the biggest news so far is that one of my writings will be published in Insight Magazine, July 10, 1999 (the day before my birthday). Look for it: Spiritual Lessons from Waterskiing. Most of you would have received that from me when it was originally written. If you want a copy, let me know.
I've discovered health. =) They say health reform is progressive, and I've been progressing. A typical day's meals for me would consist of: Breakfast - fruit, hot cereal (oat bran, cream of wheat, or 100% bran), bread, and sometimes peanut butter, along with a teaspoon of Barleygreen. Lunch - juiced carrot/celery/cucumber/beet/parsley combination, varying depending... with a teaspoon of Barleygreen. Supper - big salad, cooked food - rice & peas, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, cabbage/patchoi/bhaghi... And I don't eat meat, fish, dairy and I'm trying to avoid white flour and salt and sugar. Exercise when possible.
I'm feeling good. =)
Watching the sea dance with the seashore, forward and back, forward
and back, I see His feet moving gracefully on the dance floor of time.
Feeling the gentle breeze as it lifts the arms of the trees and bushes,
I observe His arms. In the midst of the maelstrom, through the tumult
of the tempest, the energies of the Dancer are thrown into the music.
Indeed, His is the music. His own song provides Him with the rhythm,
the texture, the flow of the music. And as He dances in, with, and
through His creation, He is assured that He never dances alone.
On Saturday night, we had a banquet, and after the banquet was over, some social games were played by the students. It started with the girls, playing something like "brown girl in the ring" or something along those lines. The guys just stood around the circle and watched. But after a while, things changed. The guys got involved in a game of a different character. While the girls' games were community building, cooperative games, the guys' game was something different.
The crowd started to clap a beat. Some stomped a rhythm with their feet. And everyone began to chant, "Go Rocky! Go Rocky! Go Rocky!" And Rocky went. He began to dance to the rhythm, crossing from his side of the circle across the centre to where another young man was standing watching him. And when Rocky got to where he was, he communicated to him a nonverbal insult through dance, to the squeals and cheers of the crowd. And then he danced back over to his side. And then the next one, we'll call him Mark, recovered from his insult, thought up something good to do, and to the chants of "Go Mark! Go Mark!" he danced across to deliver his put down through dance.
And as time went on, the insults became more and more degrading, not only the recipient, but also to the deliverer. And the crowd continued to cheer and chant.
As I observed this phenomenon, it struck me that the circle played a key element in the activity. Without the encouragement of the crowd, it is unlikely that these two individuals, probably friends, would have directed their creative activities into destructive areas. In order to demonstrate their skill, they had to put down someone else. That's not the way we build strong communities. But the circle gives them what so many crave today - attention. The craving for attention, for affirmation, for some kind of love, is so strong today, and so badly underfed in healthy environments, that our young people need to find their "circle" somewhere other than the home, the church, the social environments that affirm positive social activities. Instead, we seek our circle.
Everyone needs a circle. Everyone needs to be loved. Let's
make an effort to let someone know we appreciate them before them find
themselves a circle of darkness to meet their needs. Let them find
God's circle, the circle of light, where all are valued not because of
what they can do, or because of whom they can put down, but valued simply
because they've been adopted by God.
SEEDLESS ORANGES, SEEDLESS GRAPES, SEEDLESS LEADERS
I wrote this piece for the MBA Association newsletter.
What if you were to get sick? Laid up for two weeks with the latest post-Carnival virus, would your department survive without you? Would your company survive without you? One of the unfortunate realities of life is that we build our organizations around ourselves, the people who lead. We are often reluctant to loose the chains that we hold on or organizations, ensuring that most decisions pass through us, and the direction of the company is guided by our hand. While this approach gives managers the most personal security, it isn't always the best for the organization. An organization where the power is heavily restricted to the leadership results in unempowered workers who do not grow, who are less than confident about their leadership activities, and will not be able to lead or make decisions on their own should the situation call for it. When leaders do not produce leaders, they can be likened to seedless fruit.
Seedless oranges, seedless grapes, seedless watermelon… the wonders of modern plant engineering. You can eat them, they taste great, and no annoying seeds to spit out. But you can't take a seedless orange and plant it, and get another tree. You can't create a vine from seedless grapes, and seedless watermelon would just rot in the ground.
There's a lesson to be learned there. No matter how great we may be as managers, we have not fulfilled our potential if we fail to leave a legacy of leadership. When one department produces managers who fertilize the entire company as they are promoted, a wise organization will recognize the fruitfulness of the managers heading that department, and will reward them.
How do we become fruitful leaders? Seven steps:
1. Be Confident
In order to be an effective developer of leadership talent, you must be secure and confident of your abilities. Your technical and managerial skills have gotten you where you are, and it's not likely that your job will be in jeopardy because you develop leaders. It is actually a positive thing when the student exceeds his or her master. Understandably, some managers will be apprehensive about developing leaders, for fear that those leaders will supplant them, or surpass them. In some organizations, this is a legitimate fear, as some fail to recognize the value of leadership development. Some organizations prefer to let someone else develop the talent, and then hire the already experienced managers. If your firm is thekind of environment where mentoring is encouraged and rewarded, you have fertile ground for developing leaders. If only performance is rewarded, it might be a good opportunity to help to change the emphasis within the organization.
2. Start small
Your staff are likely willing to accept additional responsibility and decision-making freedom, but they may not be used to it, or ready for it, at first. Dropping an entire project on one person, expecting him or her to plan, delegate, and control it, all at once, may be more than they can handle at first. Gauge the ability and capacity of those who work with you. Talk with them and find out what they feel comfortable with. Think about the many decisions you make, and which of them can be shared. Choose one or two individuals whom you believe have potential for strong leadership, and begin to plant the seeds in them. Over time, your ability to select potential leaders will improve. And as you begin to see their success in smaller things, you'll begin to feel more comfortable giving them larger responsibilities.
3. Trust your staff
Trust is an important element in many working relationships. Where there is no trust, job descriptions limit the effort of workers, and managers exist dying for a chance to catch the employee slipping up. Each feels the other is out to take advantage. When developing leaders, trust is necessary for the seeds to grow. Therefore, if you assign to them a task, you have to give them the freedom to complete the tasks in the way they consider to be best. You may have done it another way, and your way may be best, but allow them to try their way, even after you've shared with them how you do it, or prefer it done. Individuals grow through trying, assessing results, and changing the approach. As leaders they will have to trust themselves, and their own ability to solve problems and make decisions. You give them a lot when you trust their ability to do just that.
4. Give them tools
Ever try to harvest a banana tree without a cutlass? You know what has to be done, you know what is needed to get the job done, but you don't have it. It leads to frustration. When growing leaders, you have to ensure that they have the skills needed to function effectively - communication, project planning, motivation, delegation, negotiation, time management, resource allocation - so that they can experience success. In addition, they need to have the necessary authority to complete the task. That will come from you.
5. Support them
It is said that when some birds teach their young to fly, the mother with carry the little one in her beak and drop her. The father waits below to catch the chick in the event it doesn't fly. A manager must be equally supportive. Developing leaders is not a sink-or-swim proposition, but a period of growth through stages of increasing (and sometimes decreasing) confidence. Your leaders-in-development should feel free to come to you for advice, counsel, and correction. They should also feel free to communicate with others in the company who can be of assistance to them. It is important to create a nurturing climate, where young leaders can develop without fear.
6. Forgive mistakes
When young leaders make mistakes, as they will from time to time, how we handle it says a lot about our commitment to leadership development. If we come down hard on those we have trusted, it tells them that mistakes are unacceptable. Mistakes can be treated as prime learning opportunities for the manager to learn what does not work. Your leader-in-the-making should have a high degree of participation in resolving any situations her or her error creates. And you may learn yourself some pointers on keeping in touch with those to whom you delegate. Failures should never be a surprise to you.
7. Celebrate Success
At the end of the growing season comes the harvest and the harvest festival - a time for celebration and thanksgiving for a healthy crop. Similarly, celebration and thanksgiving are in order when your protégés have experienced success in assignments and projects. Let them feel appreciated by the company, the department, or the unit, depending on the scope of their success. Managers are often motivated by recognition, and giving it to them publicly will help to motivate them, as well as other leaders-in-the-making
Each seed that grows becomes a plant which will bear fruit with seeds
that have opportunities to grow. As you develop leaders, you are
also modeling to those leaders the process of leadership development.
And so the legacy you leave behind will be a perpetual succession of leaders.
Every organization needs leaders now, and in the future. Many organizations
would benefit from a proliferation of empowered thinking workers.
Rather than being seedless oranges, grapes, and watermelons, let us instead
be fruitful, and multiply!
I wrote this song a little while ago - I thought I'd share it with you.
Like gold in the Refiner's fire
You purge me from the things you don't desire
And leave in me an image of You
And I'm grateful for what you led me through
I learned to wait
As patience waits in perfect peace
I find my rest when I fall on my knees
For there I find my solace sweet
And there my blessed Lord I meet
And learn to wait
So if the pain is more than I can bear
And if the grief is just too deep to share
As long as I know Christ my Lord is there
Though it's hard to find a smile behind my tears
I will to wait and wait I will, I will to wait
Like gold in the Refiner's fire ... I will to wait
As patience works its perfect peace ... I will to wait
Until my blessed Lord I meet
I will to wait
And the voice came out of the bush, saying, "Take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
Imagine that! When you take off your shoes (and socks), what's on your feet? Nothing. When God calls us to take off our shoes, I believe He's saying, I want to touch you. I want to be in contact with you, so that my holiness and your humanness can interact. The great God of the universe, maker of heaven and earth, He who dances with the winds and waves, and glides on the galaxies... He wants to touch you. He wants to be in touch with you. Let's not lose that contact, for it is life.
God bless you all.
Dave.