A 40 DAY JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY – Week Five

Day 29 – Leadership Essentials…

Leading anything can be a challenge.  Coaching a team, making a business prosper,  pastoring a church, directing a non-profit, inspiring a service organization – all these roles have their challenges.  A quick search on Amazon for books on leadership listed 153,221 books on the subject.  If nothing else it shows that there is a market for leadership skills.

At Canterbury we have a wonderful partner in Ties That Bind ( http://www.tiesthatbind.biz ) They take people through a team building challenge course and leaders quickly emerge…Read More>

 

Day 30 – Leadership Principles…

In yesterday’s post we looked at leadership and began with the principle of of purpose.  Today let us examine principle of Passion.

I have been a blessed man in that I can honestly say I have not worked in over 30 years.  I have too much fun in what I get to do as a vocation to call it work.  I have never dreaded going into my office or the tasks set before me.  In my teenage and college years I had a few “jobs”  that were just that, I worked hard doing them to earn money for school or other life expenses.  Life is too short to spend your time, talent and treasures on things you are not passionate about…Read More>

 

Day 31 – Leadership Principles…
The last two days we have looked at leadership.  We continue that theme as we look at Perseverance.  I’ll admit, I am the eternal optimist. I always think things will get better; we will always meet the goal.  I tend to see everything with potential. My wife Beth is a realist, (not a pessimist) but looks at things in a very logical and concrete fashion.  I need her voice and perspective in my life.  I liken this to the PBS television show This Old House.  The host has always been an optimist.  They look at a house and say things like,  I love the architectural details or This is an amazing entry or These wood floors are beautiful, yes there is a little bit of a slope in the floor but just look at this rich design. Then comes Norm Abrams, a master carpenter to examine the project.  He starts with things like…Read More>

 

Day 32 – Leadership Principles – one more time…
I am blessed to have been mentored by some amazing folks.  I try to be a sponge and soak up the wisdom, advice and counsel  of leaders.  Canterbury has an amazing board with people who give their time, energy and support guiding this ministry and being good stewards of what we have been given.  Our current Board Chairman is David Mead.  He and I meet regularly and more than once he has given me words of wisdom in leading Canterbury. David will remind of two helpful things in working with a team.

The first is…Read More>

 

Day 33 – Relationship…  Young Life, a ministry found primarily on high school campuses has a phrase I have carried with me for years.   People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  This idea / concept has been a driving force in my life.   The shift in our culture over the last fifty years has something like this in the mix.   Think of the shift in public communication and media.  Television shows in the 1990’s were built on a highly relational foundation. Friends, Seinfeld, the emergence of Reality TV.  From the Jim Carey movie, The Truman Show there is this stilling monolouge by the character Christoff… We’ve become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We are tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there’s nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards. It isn’t always Shakespeare, but it’s genuine. It’s a life.  It speaks of a deep desire for something authentic.

One place to unpack this cultural shift is in the Star Trek franchise…Read More>

 

Day 34 – Friendship…   My good friend and life long mentor Mike Atkins is a close friend.  We were together recently at a conference where he was speaking.  In the beginning of the his talk, he looked at me and in an emotional moment said, I’ve known Jon for 30+ years; you don’t have many 30 year friends.  Friendship is an essential in life, without friendship life is hollow. Some folks have just a few friends, others have an abundance of friends.  The number is not all that important but friendship is.  There is an amazing 33 year ritual in my life. Since 1982 myself and 5 friends retreat to the mountains of western North Carolina for a rich time of laughter, music, conversation, playing cards, some prayers and reconnecting. The Cabin Guys are a treasure in life, we share a bond of love and respect…Read More>

 

 

Day 35 – Communication…   We live in an information age.  There is a constant news feed in the world.  Good communication is important.   How we communicate can determine many things. Communication is also tough. I love this quote,  I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.  There are many levels and types of communication.  Different situations call for different approaches.  There is a pace for minimal, trivial communication or small talk.   When I see someone at a meeting it might go something like,  Hi Joe, How are you doing?  Joe says, Fine.   This is appropriate I am not expecting Joe to unload in that setting all the gory details of a recent painful life moment.  There is communication in simply acknowledging another person.

Another level of communication would be talking about others and losing labels…Read More>