Courage for Your Team

Ways to Bring Courage to Your Team

#1: Listen

One of the best things you can do to lead with courage is listen to your team. The more people you lead, the more you must listen. The information our team shares can help us make wise decisions.

I recently heard a quote from someone that said, “The leader surrounded with people he won’t listen to will soon be surrounded by those who have nothing to say.” Wow! If you aren’t getting feedback from your team, perhaps it’s because they’re weary of talking and not being listened to. Leaders who want to preserve the status quo only listen to those who agree with them. If you want to help your team and your organization win, listen. It will pay you tremendous dividends.

#2: Bring Courage Through the Difficult Times

No doubt, your organization experiences good times and bad times. It’s easy to lead with courage when things are good but not so much when things are tough. However, your team and your board are watching to see how you will lead in times of difficulty and challenge.

Years ago, when I was a student pastor, I took a group of teenagers to the beach for camp. I went down early with some of the leadership team to set up for the week. Some of my other leaders stayed behind to bring the students down on the bus. One hour out from the beach, they stopped

3 ESSENTIALS FOR LEADERS

Tip #1: Lead
Sounds easy, right? We both know that it’s not always easy to lead. But when we lead we can more effectively lead if we lead with conviction, clarity, and courage.
A pastor recently attended a play by to see someone is his church perform. After the play, the actor and pastor were talking. The pastor asked, “Why is it that people respond to what you are doing with some enthusiasm and very little in our church on Sundays?”
The actor responded, “I share my make believe with conviction as if it’s real; you share your real with the conviction as if it’s make believe.” What oftentimes is missing for us as leaders is real conviction. 

We also need to lead with clarity. So often as a Type A personality, I think I have communicated to our team and I am off to the races to the next thing. We must communicate with clarity if we want to lead. Often, it may mean repeating things or explaining ourselves, but we will only when if we lead with clarity.

Lastly, we must lead with courage. Our team is watching. Will we take the easy way out? Our will we trust God to come through even when our decisions aren’t popular. Leading with courage inspires those around us to be men and women of faith.

Conviction, Clarity, Courage: all necessities in this day and age as a leader.
If we at Heart Share can help you and your team with any leadership retreats or team building, please let me know!
(Tips #2 and #3 will be coming up soon!)

Leadership Tips for Today

This week I thought I would share some simple things to help you as a leader, specifically in the area of time management. As a leader, I sometimes have so many things on my plate, it's imperative that I manage my time wisely. Over the years, I have learned some things that save me time that I'd like to share with you.

1-Save all your phone calling for the car. I have figured out how to drive by now. Some states don't allow for cell calls while you are driving unless you have bluetooth. If your state is one of those, get your bluetooth working. I try to save all the calls I need to make for when I am in the car so that I can accomplish 2 things at one time. When I am in the office, I concentrate on things that I can't do while I am driving and make notes on who I need to call so that I can do that while I am driving. Especially when I am on the road for long trips (2 or more hours), I will intentionally make sure I do my conference calls then if possible.

2-Personal things on the road-This past week, I left home needing a hair cut, and a shirt. My thought was, "I'll just do that when I get back home." But when I arrived in the city I was traveling to, I had a an hour or so before my business meeting started. So, I found a place to get my hair cut and ran in to the Old Navy and grabbed a shirt. The cool thing is I didn't have to this when I got home. And since my time at home is so precious and limited, I was overjoyed that I didn't have to worry about this when I got home which meant more time with my family. 

3-Take 10 minutes and plan your next day the night before. I started doing that several years ago and it has saved me so much time. When I get up in the morning, I have a plan and work the plan.

What ideas do you have? What do you do to save time?

The Roadblock of Pride

My hand slammed on the steering wheel in frustration. I had left the house late again, hoping to make up fifteen minutes of tardiness in only a few miles. I figured I could make it to my destination by taking the shortcut over to Pelham Road. No need to let the frustration rule. I got this. I zoomed down Highway 14 watching the clock on my dashboard. I took a quick left down an unnamed road that I estimated would put me close to where I needed to be for my appointment. As I rounded the curve, there in the middle of the road was a huge earthmover with a worker sitting atop it, one hand on his knee and the other on the brim of a baseball cap. Just behind him, I could make out the state construction sign in big, bold letters: ROAD CLOSED.

Due to the heavy rains over the past week, the little bridge that had connected the two roads had washed away. Sure wish they had posted a sign about two miles back with some warning for me. It would have saved me some time.  Time I didn’t have. That day, I had a destination to get to, but the route I chose to get there was unavailable because the road was blocked, or closed. There are some roadblocks as well when it comes to seeing real community happen in our lives. Maybe you have even asked the question, “why don’t we see this kind of community you’ve described in today’s world?”

The truth of the matter is a lot of things keep us from experiencing this kind of biblical community.

Roadblock #1-Selfishness
I don’t know if you remember being a kid. Maybe not, but if you have kids, it may be easier to remember. You and I and our kids are alike. When we were growing up and we had something that was ours, more than likely, there was a time when we shouted, “Mine!” It’s what a child does, until they learn how to share. When a child screams “Mine!” it’s one thing, but to see an adult act that way is another. In many circles, the thing that keeps true community from happening is an unwillingness to not say “Mine!”

Maybe you feel like it’s your turn to have your way. Maybe you are justified in having your way on a certain issue. But the reality is, all of us must learn to share. And sharing means the willingness for someone else to have their way.

People shared everything in the early church. If they saw someone in need, they met the need. How awesome would it be if that kind of community was the hallmark of our churches? I guarantee you that you could not keep people out. They would be lined up to share in that kind of community. The Bible tells us that the world will know we are His disciples by our love for one another. A recent friend who is not a believer told me, “ I don’t have any problem believing that you love those outside the church, what I don’t know is if you will love me once I come in.” What a sad thought. Real community is sharing. Real community is putting the needs of someone else above our own. Have you ever seen that kind of community?

In our day, it looks like most people operate from a sense of entitlement and the “Look out for Number One!” mantra. That’s quite the opposite of the community that Peter and John experienced in Acts 2.  The Bible is pretty clear about selfishness and pride.

Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Pride centers on self. It runs totally contradictory to allowing real community to happen. And yet it runs rampant in our world. Pride is when we always have to be right; pride is when our way is the only way. It’s a sufficient roadblock to experiencing real community. Where do you see pride?

Can you Hear me Now?

This week I had the great opportunity to lead a couple of workshops at the CareNet conference in Orlando Florida. One of the things that we talked about was being aware of your surroundings and listening as a leader. The reality is most of us are so busy doing things for ourselves, that we are not aware of what is going on around us. I remember watching someone a few weeks ago driving down the road eating a salad. Completely oblivious to everything that was going on around them. Driving the car was just a side issue at the time. And yet that is the one thing they should be focusing on. 

Today I had another bad experience at a restaurant that I really love going to. I was just grabbing some quick food. My order was taken and then the cashier walked away to go do something else. After 10 minutes of standing there,I finally asked someone, "Can you please check on my order?" Totally unaware, the cashier came back and took somebody else's order and totally forgot what they were doing with me. We must be aware of what is going on around us. Take some time today if you are out driving and when you stop at a red light, look around and check out your surroundings. 

Next time you're talking to someone, listen to them closely. What are they saying with their eyes? What are they saying with their vocal inflection? Are you completely aware of what is going on?

As a dad, when my kids were younger, I used to take them to the mall or to a restaurant. I was like a spy. I was always watching other people to make sure my kids were safe. I was watching other people to make sure they were not going to do my children harm. I was memorizing license plates of other cars nearby, just in case. I believe we need that same kind of awareness as leaders when we are working with people. Being aware and listening will keep us out of a lot of trouble.

I shared this week with the leaders at the conference a quote that I recently heard, "If a leader does not listen to those around him, he or she will soon be surrounded by those who have nothing to say."

What do you think? How important is listening?

Ouch, That Hurt!!

Almost a year ago now I was trimming the hedges in our backyard with an electric trimmer. I was being a stupid man, standing on the ledge of our picket fence about six feet off the ground, walking along the ledge and the top of the pickets trimming the hedge line. The next thing I knew I was lying in the neighbor’s backyard shaking my head while stars went around and around. I wasn’t sure what happened. I assumed I lost my balance. I got up, shook myself off, and walked to the garage. I put the hedge trimmer up and decided that was enough for one day. Later that evening, the index finger on my left hand began to swell and hurt.

“Great,” I thought. “I’ve jammed my finger.” I still didn’t think much about it.
Until the next day.  It continued to hurt and turn blue. Then I went to the doctor. It was x-rayed and the doctor determined no broken bones. A few more days, more pain, more swelling. Finally a CT Scan. Still, all the tests were coming back that there was no muscle or nerve damage. Finally, I went to see a hand specialist. In the meantime, I had no use of that finger. After spending time with the hand specialist, he said, “tell me what you were doing when this happened.”

I told him what happened and he looked at me and said, “I think we need to do surgery and see what is going on.”  I don’t have to tell you that did not excite me at all. I’m not one for doctors, medicine, surgery, or the like unless it is absolutely necessary.

I’ll never forget me coming out of anesthesia in the operating room, and the doctor walking over with something lying in the palm of his hand. It looked like half the size and span of a toothpick.
            He smiled and said, “I think we found the culprit.”
            Apparently, the electric trimmer had sliced off a part of the bush with such force that it entered my hand like a bullet. There were never any puncture marks in my hand, but the piece of wood was there, nonetheless. I’m glad the doctor asked me what I had been doing when it happened. Everybody else had told me just to let it heal.

“Wrap it up, it will be fine,” someone said.

If I had not gotten that piece of wood out, something that didn’t belong in my hand, there would have been serious repercussions along the way.
            If we want to see a movement of God in our world, we’ve got to start with the right mindset. The right mindset comes from thinking the right beliefs. The right mindset is kept by knowing what caused the wrong beliefs in the first place. We must get the wrong beliefs out of our minds, or we will have serious repercussions along the way. If we don’t know the history, we may be rendered ineffective like a hand with a piece of wood stuck inside.

I'd like to know what wrong beliefs you struggle with that need to be removed. Let me know.

The Millennial Barrage

I really am beginning to tire of hearing about all this “millennial” speak.  I don’t know if my mom and dad’s generation spoke so often about the “Gen X-ers” or not, but I sure don’t remember it. I think, in part, we have so hyped up this terminology, that is has become nothing more than a marketing gimmick for books, lectures, seminars, and the like and the revenue that come along with these.

Make no mistake, the world is different now than when I was a young person, but the world was different from when my mom and dad were young people, too.  And the world will be different for the next generation. We act like “millennials” have just arrived on the planet from some far off galaxy and know nothing about planet Earth. The fact that we continue to lump everyone born during those years (and no one can agree the exact years, some say 1980-2002) is the easiest way to build obstacles when it comes to communicating to them.

Baby boomers had the television, Gen X had the personal computer, and Millennials have the smart phone/tablets. Baby boomers main form of communication was the telephone, Gen X was the email system, and Millennials has become social media: Instagram and SnapChat.

Serving as a student pastor for many years, along with producing a nationally syndicated radio show for students for fifteen years, I’ve come to a certain realization about young people. With all of the differences generationally and technologically, there are some simple truths that can be used to communicate with this age group.

They are:


1-Be real. That means be yourself, not someone you aren’t. Young people see enough “plastic people” in their every day lives.

2-Don’t sugarcoat the issues. Be honest. It’s possible to speak truth and still make an impression. In fact, even if they don’t like the truth, they’ll probably respect you for telling it to them. Eventually, if not immediately.

3-Admit when you are wrong.  I already know you aren’t perfect—so do the millenials.
4-Listen as much as you want to be listened to.
5-Make them feel like their ideas matter. Why? Because they do.

So, what do you think? Sounds like an easy list to me. As a matter of fact, I think this list would apply to most of us, regardless of age.

Follow Jack on Twitter @jackeason