Leadership

If you've read my blog before, you know that I'm a big believer in small changes.  A small change done consistently over time has the potential to bring about big results.  In that spirit, I'm passing on to you the following article about small changes. ****************** Smarter lunchrooms lead kids to eat more salad Laura Smith, a researcher at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, presented the findings of the study "Convenience Drives Choice in School Lunchrooms" at this week's Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, Calif. In a year-long study in an upstate New York middle school, researchers examined the effect of moving the salad bar to a more prominent location in the cafeteria. Results show that sales of certain salad bar items increased by 250-300%. "It wasn't a big move," Smith explained. "From its original location against a wall, we moved the salad bar out about four feet, in…

This past weekend at Mountainview our message focused on finding strength in our weaknesses.  This blog post from Mac Lake is a great addition to the discussion. ***************** If we want to maximize the God given opportunities of our lives then it’s essential that we operate in our strengths.  Marcus Buckingham defines a strength as “consistent near perfect performance in an activity.” This is a simple but profound description of a strength.  When we operate in our strengths results come easy, our work is almost effortless and we experience a deep sense of satisfaction and joy. While I’m a big proponent of knowing and developing strengths, yesterday I sat down and did an inventory of my weaknesses.  It was a very insightful and helpful exercise to begin my week.  As leaders there are times we need to focus on our weaknesses…not to develop them but to design systems and structures…

Successful leaders, entrepreneurs, or even pastors, are odd mix of two things: hunger and humility. A leader who refuses to settle for the status quo because new ground remains to be gained is hungry.  An entrepreneur who is willing to eat Ramen noodles and mac-n-cheese in order to put more money into his business is hungry (in more ways than one!). To be successful, a person must have a hunger for more ... for more growth, more expansion, more quality, more effectiveness, more simplicity. At the same time, they must have a deep humility that recognizes the limits of their own abilities.  It takes humility to say, "I don't know" or "I'm sorry."  A humble leader will be content to serve in the background while someone else is in the spotlight. Hunger and humility.  Do you have what it takes to be successful?

I came across this blog post by Doug Riddle of the Center for Creative Leadership called "When Intention is Irrelevant."  It speaks of the higher standard leaders will be held to.  In particular, it reminded me of James's admonition to those who would aspire to be teachers: "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." (James 3:1) Here is the article. ***************** When Intention is Irrelevant I've been interviewing leaders and followers for years about the impact of leaders' behavior on their organizations and their people. I've come to a somewhat disturbing if obvious conclusion: a good deal of their impact is completely unintentional. We spend a lot of our energy thinking about what to say and what not to, how to introduce strategic change, and how to improve morale, for instance. Yet, there are…