Mission Igniter

Posted by Jim Gray

When I was a kid growing up in Northern California,  I was often bored out of my mind.   My father who is a logger by trade often had creative ideas to cure my boredom. I recall a particular summer when he came up with the idea of building me a box trap.  I could use it to trap birds, rabbits, and whatever else would like to eat peanut butter (this is a long list).  The diagram below shows the best example I could find.

The end result was the trapdoor closing the victim inside the box.  I was successful on my first attempt in catching a rather very annoyed “digger” squirrel. I brought the trap home with the rodent inside. My dad suggested I release it, which I did.  I used the trap another time and the same thing happenend, might of been the same squirrel, too.  The second rodent tore up the trap and it sat in my dad’s workshop unused.

This story came to mind last night as I sat reading Proverbs 1:

11 If they(the ones who do not listen to wisdom)  say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait for blood,
Let us ambush the innocent without cause;

18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.

Are you setting yourself up for an ambush? Are you someone who can be trusted?

Posted by Jim Gray

Brad Lomenick recently posted this very practical resource/application for the end of the year.  Here’s what he had to say about this process:

“It’s important we take time as leaders to reflect and look back over the last 12 months, as well as looking forward to the next 12 months and beyond. ”

1. What are the 2-3 themes that personally defined 2010 for me?

2. What people, books, accomplishments, or special moments created highlights in 2010?

3. Give yourself a grade from 1-10 in the following areas of focus for 2010: vocationally, spiritually, family, relationally, emotionally, financially, physically, recreationally.

4. What am i working on that is BIG for 2011 and beyond?

5. As I move into 2011, is a majority of my energy being spent on things that drain me or things that energize me?

Read more on Brad’s blog

Posted by Jim Gray

Andy Stanley talks about moving on from what is natural and necessary in leadership to doing less so you can do more.

via Catalyst

Guest post by Bruce Moore from 1 Year 2 Live blog

Your Christmas Eve gathering can be so much more than just a “one shot event.” It can be one of the largest gatherings in your year that helps people bridge into becoming regular attendees. With “1year2live” before our church stopped and turned off the lights we decided to do something radical. Our church decided to make a comeback. It started with just a few small changes.

[photo courtesy mlblogsnetwork ]

This article by Mike Foster was originally posted on Catalystspace as “SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR SHAMWOW SELF”

Vince Shlomi is a tremendous communicator. His ability to motivate and move people to action is impressive to say the least. Vince is positive, oozes optimism and always sees the best in things. Without question, at the age of 44, Mr. Shlomi is at the top of his game.

Now you may not know the name Vince Shlomi but I’m certain you are aware of his work. Every day on late night cable television Vince is showcasing one of the most revolutionary products known to man…The ShamWow. This super absorbent product can pick up any spill and give a butt kicking to wetness of any kind.

Vince is a master and yet he has a huge problem. To be exact he has a credibility problem. The gullible insomniac consumer eventually finds out after purchasing a ShamWow for $19.99 that the product is basically a glorified sponge. His sister product the Slap Chop doesn’t fair so well either. Vince paints a picture of reality that isn’t true and doesn’t exist.

If you’re like me, you may have the temptation to adopt a lot of Mr. ShamWow into your life and leadership. It is the temptation to overpromise, oversell and be obsessed with showcasing the best part of you.

Too many people live their lives selling themselves like Vince sells a ShamWow. Vince never talks about the possibility of weakness, defects or the fact that sometimes the ShamWow doesn’t live up to the hype.

But when we as leaders take this course of action we set ourselves and organizations up to have a serious believability problem. All of a sudden our character resembles that of a late night infomercial hawker then that of a genuine leader. Not only do we cash in our credibility with our audience, staff and friends, we also rip them off. Our fake selves rob those we engage with of deep community and healthy relationship with us.

As I wrote about in my book “Gracenomics: Unleash the Power of Second Chance Living,” I talked about the need to embrace our entire story. We need to discover how to allow grace to reconcile our light and our shadow. It is critically important to embrace our entire story…even the parts that are less attractive or we find hard to talk about.

But taking on this holistic approach to our life is especially significant when we are communicating the truths of the gospel. Even slipping into “pastor mode” can make us appear ShamWowish. Pastor mode can be defined as that fake person we become when we are on stage or around church members. We have the upbeat, perfect pastor, always smiling persona and then the real (or normal) persona. This dual life will lead us to an eventual meltdown. This infomercial version of ourselves eats away our soul and undermines our credibility as a leader.

Few would question the pure genius of billionaire Warren Buffet and his ability to make money. But Mr. Buffet also has an incredible skill to lead with transparency. In Joseph Hallinan’s brilliant book, Why We Make Mistakes, he describes Buffett’s biggest mistake ever.

Buffett bought the Dexter Shoe Company for $433 million in 1993 declaring it was “one of the best managed companies I have seen in my business lifetime.” But in only a few years the purchase tanked and Dexter Shoe Company went out of business. Buffett would have to eat his words and deal with a $433 million dollar black eye. Did he spin it? Did he blame someone else? Did he ignore it or fake his way out of it?

Buffett would address his shareholders directly and own his mistake. He embraced humanity and transparency and boldly said, “I’ll make more mistakes in the future…you can bet on that.” He didn’t conceal his mistakes…he revealed them.

Did Warren Buffet’s future as an investor go under after that? Nope. In choosing to be honest, Warren gave his funders an unusual gift: the opportunity to show him grace and the opportunity to build his credibility as a leader.

Vince Shlomi and Warren Buffett have very different leadership styles. It is my hope that we model truth, grace and transparency and not let our lives and leadership resemble that of a ShamWow infomercial.

Mike Foster leads the organization People of the Second Chance and is the author of the new bookGracenomics: Unleash the Power of Second Chance Living. He blogs daily at www.POTSC.com and is@MikeFoster on Twitter.