Cannonball!

There are two approaches to getting in a pool. One, is to go to the shallow end and slowly walk down the steps into the pool (a lot of moms with the swimsuit/skirt things on do it this way). The other can best be summarized in one word: CANNONBALL! Caution to the wind, come what may, jump right in, who cares if sunbathers get splashed (this is the method of 10 year old boys...and 33 years old men who act like they're 10). There are two kinds of leaders when it comes to change. There are those that go to the shallow end and start wading in, testing the water, waiting to acclimate before they go a little deeper. The other kind cannonballs and lets everything settle as it may. Sometimes the "wade in" approach seems to work best -- it allows people to acclimate slowly to change -- there's plenty of time to adjust, change the way you think, grow into the new reality. Other times, cannonballing is the way to go -- just mess things up, make the change swift and then get to the business of settling the water back down. Sometimes the "wade in" approach loses people -- they get anxious, impatient -- the want it to happen faster. Sometimes the cannonball approach destroys people because it doesn't give them time to process, time to change, time to acclimate before the new reality takes over...

• Which are you -- wader or cannonballer?
• How do you know when to do which?

New Year's Resolution

For you "leadership types," here's a New Year's Resolution from a leader we all know and admire (okay, maybe "admire" is a little strong!)

Dwight Schrute’s New Years Resolution ‘07

I, Dwight Schrute, resolve, in the year 2007, to display more wisdom and benelovence to my inferiors.

It is said, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Well I say, keep everyone as close as possible to you because you don’t know who is your friend or your enemy. Keep the people below you even closer if that’s possible. Even if they have to be inside you.

Remember: they work for you. They must respect you. If you can fool them into thinking that you really care, you can get them to do anything for you. Even kill if necessary.

Now I’m not saying I want Ryan or Kevin to kill a competitor or Andy or anything, but it would be nice to know that they would if I asked them to.

What are your new years resolutions. You can reply by clicking on something below.

That is all.

Dwight K. Schrute

What's Your Wake?

I recently started Dr. Henry Cloud's book Integrity. So, after some reading this morning, I'm asking myself, "What's my wake?"

Cloud talks about the idea that you may be very skilled at what you do, and you may be great at networking and building alliances in your field, but at the end of the day, if you have no character, you'll shipwreck for sure.

So one of the things he talks about is our wake -- what we leave behind us. He puts it this way:

"Are a lot of people out there water-skiing on the wake, smiling, having a great time for our having 'moved through their lives'? Or are they out there bobbing for air, bleeding , and left wounded as shark bait? In other words, would they say that their experience with us has left them better off for our having 'moved through their lives,' or would they say that it has left them worse off? Did they consider it a blessing that they were associated with you, or a curses? What is the nature of the wake? Are they smiling or reeling?"

So here are my questions this morning about my own wake -- because, Cloud argues, our wake is the direct result of our character:

• What was my wake in seminary like?
• What about First Baptist? Were people glad for my having "moved through their lives," or did I leave people for shark bait?
• What about Northwoods -- when I interact with people -- are they happy for the experience, or do they walk away feeling like we got stuff done, but it wasn't a good experience?

Andy Stanley on Integrity

If you have a minute...and you're a leader of any kind, read this article by Andy Stanley.