Tenzing Norgay was one of the best known sherpas of all-time, made famous for his climb of Everest with Edmund Hillary. In his autobiography he tells the story of climbing a different mountain with George Frey, an experienced climber. The story reminds us how important it is to have a climbing partner. At first the going was easy enough, following a long snow slope into which we could kick good steps, and not so steep that we needed a rope between us. But after a while the angle grew a bit sharper, and the snow harder, and I stopped and put on my steel-spiked crampons, so as to have a steadier footing. “Aren’t you going to put yours on?” I called up to Frey, who was in the lead. “No, I don’t need them,” he answered. And we continued climbing. Once again there is the question of whether I should…
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The following is a great post by Craig Groeschel from lifechurch.tv. It's about the who and what of leadership. ****************** Instead of always knowing “what” is happening with a project, what we really need to know is “who” is covering the project. If we have the right “who,” we shouldn’t have to worry about the “what.” If we have the wrong “who,” then we need to know the “what.” If you always need to know the “what,” you have one of two problems: You are not an empowering leader. You have the wrong “who.” Either way, the problem needs to be fixed.
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One of the tests of a great leader is not so much the quality of her work but the quality of people she surrounds herself with. Put another way, you can measure the competency of a leader by the competency of those they gather around them. To create a scalable culture -- one that is easily reproduced and expanded -- requires competent leaders. Many organizations, churches included, will hit a ceiling based upon the competency level of one leader. To continue to grow and expand requires a growing and expanding layer of competent leadership. This requires hiring the best people possible and releasing them to do their jobs. It also requires developing the in-house talent that already exists in latent form within the organization. May your greatest competency as a leader be the ability to spot and develop the competency of others!
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Jesus can you take the time To throw a drowning man a line Peace on Earth To tell the ones who hear no sound Whose sons are living in the ground Peace on Earth Jesus sing a song you wrote The words are sticking in my throat Peace on Earth Hear it every Christmas time But hope and history won't rhyme So what's it worth This peace on Earth -- Bono, "Peace on Earth" Hope and history. Hope is what we aspire to, what we know is possible. Hope believes and trusts and holds on to the promises of God. Hope inspires. History is what actually happens. History tells the story of our ups and downs, our wins and our losses. History is littered with beauty and marred by ugliness. There are times when hope and history tell the same story. Or, as Bono would say, they rhyme. We see…
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