Holcomb on leadership

So, I'm watching the Vikings lose to the Packers today and I was engrossed as I watched the antics of the Vikings quarterback - some guy named Kelly Holcomb. I'm not sure where he came from or how he ended up on our team; I do know he is not the normal quarterback (I think the other guy is hurt). Anyway, one time the Vikings completed a pass but there was a holding penalty on one of our guys. The camera zoomed in pretty tight on Holcomb as he looked to the coaches on the sideline, indicated it was a penalty on the Vikes, and then rolled his eyes.

Every leadership bone in my body shuddered.

Later in the game, a pass he threw was dropped by one of the Viking receivers. He lifted his arms up in disgust - not like someone thinking, "Oh, dang that was close" but more like "Of course... do I need to throw it and catch it."

Again, every leadership bone in my body shuddered.

My point is not to rip on Holcomb, but it solidified for me the impact our body language and initial reactions as leaders can have on those around us. I don't think I'm an eye-roller or a hand-thrower-upper, but I do wonder how many times my reaction to things has driven people away from me.

One thing I am learning about leadership is that I make decision with a lot more information than I am often at liberty to share when I am communicating the decision. This gap is very difficult to manage and I am looking forward to growing in how to handle it. Because of this gap, the reaction to some of my decisions, leadership style, and even motives gets challenged. The question is not "if" these things will be challenged, but when and how often. My issue becomes how I will react when my leadership is challenged. Will I do the eye roll or will I connect with the person to make sure I understand their concern? Will I throw my arms up in disgust or will I get back on the field and make another decision (throw another pass)?

My hunch is that people will remember my reaction in certain situations longer than they will remember most decisions. I also hope, then, that their memories are salted with Grace.

Speed Walkin'

I am a slow walker. Really, I am a saunter-er. My philosophy on walking is the same as my philosophy on showering.... "Dude, where's the fire?" Certainly I am able to walk or shower fast if the situation requires, but left to my own devices, the pace is quite snail-ish. Sometimes I wonder why I am snailish in this area given my pace to life is quite hectic... I mean, I take on a lot of responsibility and get a lot accomplished - you would think my Type A-ness would include how I walk.

I do know several drivers, but there is only one other person I know really well that has the same Type A-ness in life as myself. This is my pastor/boss, Bill. His desire to see lives changed and communities transformed absolutely drives him and he takes on a lot of responsibility.

But here's the sticky wicket. Bill is the opposite of a saunter-er (if you know Bill, you are now smiling). He does nothing slow. I bet he walks around his house in his jammies as if he is an Olympic speed walker. I've walked with him several times, including walking from the church office to go to lunch or other functions. He takes off out of the shoot like he's at the Kentucky Derby and he is just gone... after 10 seconds, if he is still in shouting distance, I yell "Dude, where's the fire?" One time last summer we were walking to a function and I was trying to keep up, but I was getting winded, my knees started cracking, and I start to get a good sweat bead on. Even so, he was about 3-4 strides ahead of me and I just told him, "Bill, this is as fast as I'm walking... you can go on ahead and I'll meet you there." True story. He slowed down marginally - compromise I guess.

Now, granted, he is in shape and I'm not. There is a reason he is running a marathon next week and I'm staying back to preach. However, even in those days when I was in shape, I was still a saunter-er. I am still amazed at how diverse of a people we are.

So, here's the takeaway (boy this is a stretch): When you come across people walking slow on the sidewalks of Cambridge or in the skyways of Minneapolis or wherever you are, don't jump to the conclusion that they are lazy. Perhaps they just suffer from a previously unidentified disease known as saunteritis.

Commuting

Does anyone else get frustrated when there is a long line of traffic where lanes are converging and someone else goes as far as they can in the lane that is closing only to sneak (or force) their way in at the end? Oh, be honest.

This situation happens more often now with my path to Thrivent because of the 35W situation. And this late-merging frustrates me too, but I'm not sure why. Is it because it makes the person appear pretty arrogant and selfish and we all struggle with arrogant, self-centered people? Is it because it's not fair to those of us who are waiting patiently in line? Is it because of the implication that their time is more valuable than ours? I've struggled with this and I'm not sure why it is frustrating.

I don't get overly angry and I do try to just have grace for the person because I don't know what they are going through or why they are in a hurry.... perhaps their time is more valuable than mine. I think my biggest issue is not knowing why it bothers me... it really bothers me that I don't know why I'm bothered. If someone cuts it, it will result in about a 3 second difference in when I arrive somewhere... so even if 20 people do it, we are talking about one minute of difference. That is not enough of an impact to care about; so what is my core issue?

I don't have answers, just questions. But I do know that understanding the root cause could then lead to knowing how to internally deal with it. I don't suffer from road rage, but I don't like the fact that I'm even annoyed... I want to not care about it or waste any energy thinking (or blogging) about it again!

Wall of Fame

The most productive thing I think I've ever done to help me assess my leadership, myself, and my direction was to find a mentor. For years I have tried to find the right mentor - I've built ongoing relationships with people inside my corporate world, inside my churches, with other church leaders, etc. In each of these cases there was initial excitement which ultimately waned and those relationships are just people I know now. I don't think they are "bad" mentors and I don't think I am a "bad" mentee, but what I've learned is there has to be a fit.

In my case, I need someone who is not going to pat me on the back, but (in love) is going to ask me the tough questions. I also need someone with experiences, interests, strengths, and passions that are similar enough to mine so we can understand each other. I also need someone who does not need me - as weird as that sounds... my mentor has to be about speaking wisdom, insight, and truth into my life rather than needing me to fulfill one of his needs. I need someone who is able and willing to invest time into my development and growth. I need someone who makes me feel like I have what it takes while at the same time helping me smooth out the rough spots and clarify my vision.

After about 14 years of actively seeking this out, I truly believe I have found this person. We have been meeting together about every 6 weeks since January. In these past 9 months I have received tremendous insight into my leadership, potential, career, family, faith, etc, simply by having a mentor that knows what questions to ask and doesn't let me off the hook when I try to avoid answers. Based on the past 9 months and the impact he has had on my life, I stepped out and made a sort of crazy request of him. I asked him to provide me with a picture of him and to sign it for the Wall of Fame I am starting. The purpose is basically two-fold: a) To honor him as someone positively impacting my life and future, and b) To help me remember to pray that God would give him wisdom when we meet so that he can be used to help me live up to my full potential. I've heard years ago of someone else doing this, but really never had anyone to put on the wall. The wall is reserved for a very limited number of people - there are a ton of people who positively impact my life, but this is the Wall of Fame!

Until this mentor relationship, my Pastor is the only one who has a spot on the wall reserved for him - which is why I didn't start a "wall." I've had several pastors in the past, but the relationship I now have with my pastor goes far beyond someone telling me stories from the Bible. The respect I have for this man as both a visionary, leader, friend, boss, colleague, community advocate, and man of God far surpass anything I have ever experienced before. His willingness to pour into my life while believing in what I have been called to do and also while being willing to speak truth into my life has been tremendous.

At the end of the day, these two men are people I point to as role models. More than that, they make me want to be a better man. That is why they will be on my newly constructed "Wall of Fame."

Me? a Weird-o?

I've had quite the morning with meetings early morning through early afternoon and just now getting an opportunity to blog something funny that happened to me yesterday that both makes me laugh and become self-conscious.

I was working at the church which means, for Mondays, I have lunch with either my wife or one of my kids. I had lunch with my just-turned 8-year old daughter. When she has a visitor, she gets to sit with that visitor at the "special table" along with one of her friends. She chose a fellow-2nd grader we shall call "CP." We had a fun lunch of laughing and drawing; I wrote their names in shadow letters (which I am quite famous for). As it was winding down I dismissed myself and went back to work.

To be funny, last night I said to my daughter, "Hey, I heard you had lunch today with some weird-o." I fully expected her to say something like, "Daa-aad, I had lunch with you - silly." Wanna know what she immediately responded with? "That's what CP said!". I did not see that coming... I was stunned; my beautiful bride started laughing so hard I thought we'd have to do a urine clean-up on the kitchen floor. I was absolutely blind-sided... I thought I had been quite reserved and well-behaved (relative for me, of course), but apparently not.

I'm still not sure today if I should laugh or cry.... but I guess I am at least consistent because I think that is the perception of me in my other worlds. If nothing else, I have integrity of weird-o-ness.

Chaos

Imagine if you will for a moment a husband and wife who, in the midst of life's harriedness, created a Saturday afternoon that was utter chaos.

Let your imagination drift with me for a moment.... imagine a birthday party for an 8-year old with 5 other girls about that age; this party would be filled with balloons and games and painting... this party would occur in the afternoon and scheduled to end at 4:00 with parent pickups. Crazy? - oh yes, already crazy.

Now imagine that another party for this couple's two 11-year old sons complete with 4 other kids about that same age; this party would be filled with soccer and game cube and campfires and ghosts in the graveyard.... this party would be scheduled to start at 4:00 and continue on into a sleepover not ending until the next morning. Insane? - oh yes, bordering on clinical.

Finally, consider the father of this family, who is generally looked to as the source and major contributor to game playing as indicated above. Imagine that he is going through graduate school and has scheduled an on-line conference call to go through decision-making with his team as they consider how to develop, produce, market, and strategize against the competition in their mock company. Just for fun, let's imagine this call was scheduled to start at 4:00pm. Chaos? - oh yes, utter.

Now you can remove yourself from your imagination and allow me to shock you with the truth that this was my reality on Saturday. It was utter chaos... parents were coming in to pick up their kids and there was me, anchored on the corner of our kitchen table with my laptop and headphones on barking out instructions to my team for how much of each product we should produce. I think I just needed the white robe and fuzzy slippers.

It was one of those moments where we really questioned our ability to manage life... did we not forsee that as the perfect storm? Anyway, thanks for letting me share.....

Don't Blink

There is a great country music song out right now called, "Don't Blink." It relays the story of a man turning 100 who talks about 100 years going faster than you think. We write each chapter of our life, but before we know it the chapter is completed and we're on to the next one.

-- Tomorrow, my daughter turns 8 and is getting her ears pierced. How did that happen?
-- A couple weeks ago, my boys turned 11 & started 5th grade. Huh?
-- It just hit me that next year is my 20th high school reunion. Say what?
-- I saw Desmond Howard doing a sideline report at a football game and they said he won the Heisman Trophy in 1991 - 16 years ago. No Way! I remember his punt return against Ohio State (I think) where he scored and then did the Heisman pose - that return sealed up the trophy for him. I literally remember it... that could not have been 16 years ago!
-- I remember my first kiss with my wife which was about 19 years and 60 pounds ago. Say it ain't so Joe.
-- I remember falling out of a car, holding on to the handle while my butt scraped along the road and my brother was yelling, "Let GO!" That was over 30 years ago. What? Is this a joke?
-- I remeber the shuttle exploding, Reagan getting shot, the Berlin Wall coming down, OJ (the first saga), hurricanes, and the Twin Towers coming down -- could that really have been 6 years ago?

My point? It's been a great run, but I realize now that I must run with my head back and my eyes open through life taking in everything God has to offer me through it. I don't want to blink and miss any of it.

Goal = Fun?

Is a primary goal in life to have fun? I'm not asking that as a rhetorical question or as a condescending question.... I'm asking it as a real question.

I've been challenging my kids recently that as they pray to just try not to use the word, "fun." This is primarily because their prayers tend to go something like this: "God, thank you for letting us have a fun day and I ask that we have fun tonight and fun tomorrow in school." Now, that is a sweet prayer, but it seems like the focus is too much on having fun. I know they are kids, but I'd rather hear things like, "Thank you God for giving me joy even though today was tough" or "God, please help me love other kids at school" or things like that.

I was reminded of this as I drove into work this morning. K102 was asking people to call in to share stories of teachers that have had the biggest impact on their life. One lady called in and, I swear, in about 30 seconds used the word "fun" 8 times. It went something like this (very paraphrased), "My favorite teacher was Mr. Johnson because he made science fun; it was so fun to go to his class because it was fun. Other teachers and classes weren't fun, but my friends and I always had fun in Mr. Johnson's class. That's why he is my favorite teacher." Now, I'm not bashing Mr. Johnson - he sounds great and I'm sure the fun led to more engagement which led to more learning. My point is that, for this gal, her favorite teacher was the one that she had the most fun with.

Does anyone else struggle with thinking fun is a main goal of our life? Don't get me wrong, I love to have fun... I enjoy laughter and joking around more than about anything. But I think there is a difference between aiming at "fun" and aiming at "joy." There can be joy in learning (which isn't always fun) or joy in building relationships, helping someone overcome adversity, rolling up your sleeves and digging in, physical labor, etc. Many of these aren't always fun, but they bring a deep sense of joy. I believe each of us has a purpose and fulfillment of that purpose (or movement toward that purpose) should be our goal which will bring us joy in feeling we are doing what we are made to do. But its not always fun. I think just having "fun" can be our shadow mission (credit John Ortberg) rather than our real mission.

Competitive Edge

So last night our MBA team (Team Baldwin) met on-line to make decisions regarding our mock company for the upcoming round (year) of competition. We had to make decisions on existing and new products in different (and changing) segments including Research & Development, pricing, marketing/advertising, and production as well as investments in future production, automation, employee development/training/recruiting, etc. There are a ton of different things to try out. We could have probably stopped after about an hour and would have been "fine."

I think one of the things that can make me an effective problem solver is that "fine" isn't good enough for me. I ascribe to Jim Collins believe that we don't have great businesses/schools/churches, etc, because we have good ones. It is this desire to move from good to great that drives me on. However, when applied to unnecessary situations, this can lead to the annoyance of others. Now, my team didn't seem annoyed with me, but they potentially could have been when I kept on about how I'm unhappy with our projected cash flow, then our projected ROE, then the fact we had to lay people off, then considering what the competition is doing, then tying back to our strategy. If you are reading this team, thanks for your patience.

I don't know if I learned anything about leadership here, but it did affirm that thinking to this depth is fine as long as vision is cast to show the value and potential impact of it. In the case of a simulated MBA program, the value and potential impact were limited so the rigor probably wasn't necessary.... however, if this really was a company I was running (or a church I held a leaderhip position in), this rigor (and more) would be critical - but it needs to accompany vision.

FUZE

I'm staring at an empty glass bottle called "FUZE: Healthy Infuzions." This cranberry/raspberry drink was provided by one of the New Hope staffers as she did the weekly devotion. I've kept it on my desk as a reminder.

Early this morning (6:15am) as I was setting up my computer, I noticed the irony of something marketed as infusing, while at the same time on the label emphasizing that it is "slenderizing." I started thinking how can anything both infuse me with something as well as slenderize me? It seems that even though we are putting something into us (which by definition makes us bigger), the right things that are infused can have a slenderizing effect.

What are the "right" things in our lives? What things do we do that at first glance occupy our time, but when looking deeper actually create time, joy, peace, etc? This is similar to the cash flow concept from yesterday. Just like we need to make sure profits are grounded in positive cash flow, we need to make sure we have infusions into our life (that take our time) that actually have a slenderizing effect on who we are.

Cash flow lifeblood

I just finished another 19 hours in 2-day residency for my MBA program; the topic is financial management and decision-making. One of the ringing truths from the residency was how important cash flow is to any organization. One might think that profit alone is the driver of long-term sucess... well, one can have profit without having positive cash flow which can ultimately have negative impact and even cause bankruptcy.

I look at this in terms of my leadership and my life journey. If you've been reading these for a while (or otherwise know me), you realize that I'm keeping pretty busy with good things (church, family, MBA, work, friendships, etc). The concept of "net income" without "cashflow" seems to apply to my life right now. Am I "making profit" each year by growing my relationships, education, faith, etc, but lacking in "cashflow" which might be my time for myself, reflection, and more fun? I might need to take a look at my life income statement and see where my "profits" are coming from.... are they good profits (i.e. coming from cash flow)?

Another interesting way to look at this (which I won't bore you with) is the concept of "working capital"... one can have a lot of surplus, but the ability to liquidate is based on the relationship b between short-term assets & short-term liabilities (not the long-term). An organization (Steve Fredlund Journey, Inc.) needs to have a good relationship with working capital to be able to adjust to changing needs, environment, or competition.

Not sure if this makes any sense... I need to pare it out a bit. Later...

Shower ZZZs

I love long showers.

I think it is related to my love of just being on thewater in a boat - fish are optional, but being on and around water is something that rejuvenates me. During my long showers I sometimes plan the day, sometimes pray, sometimes let the water drain my tension away, sometimes imagine my sinful self and how God washes the dirt off of me, sometimes I rehearse a talk/speech/skit I will be giving, and sometimes I think I fall asleep. I don't know if I literally fall asleep, but the water puts me in such a relaxed place that I think it has the same effect.

I was reminded about all of this as my 7-year old daughter told me this morning,"Remember when I fell asleep in the shower?" My daughter and one of my sons (along with me) love long showers. A couple years ago, my daughter was taking a long shower and I went to check on her. I called her name, but no answer. When I opened the shower door, there she was laying on the floor of the shower, mostly covering the drain, sound asleep with the water about 1/2 inch deep. Aside from the natural parent"scared" stuff, I didn't know what to think. "How tired must she be?" or "Is she OK?" At the end of day, I think she's just like me.

For me, there is something about the water. Perhaps I need a water bed...... T?

Balance applied

It's nearly 1:00am and I just finished my first of two nights trying to compete 3 weeks worth of MBA homework (last week and 2 courses for this week). My plan tonight was to work until about 4:00, get home shortly after 5:00, and then hide out somewhere to pound out some of the MBA homework.

This is not a good example of a balanced day.

As it was, I worked a bit later, until about 4:30. I then encountered a struggled colleague who I talked to for about 30 minutes in the back parking lot. Interestingly, I bet I've talked nearly 20 people off the perverbial "edge" in their life over the past couple of years. I'm not sure what it is that invites people to share with me their deepest concerns, anxieties, and frustrations, but I'm honored to be a listening ear and hopefully help them sort through some of that. Anyway, leaving downtown Minneapolis to go north at 5:00pm is not as fine as it might sound... I didn't get home until about 6:30. Then we had a great family dinner followed by about 40 minutes of Game Cube (me and my 7-year old daughter against my twin 11 year old boys).... my daughter and I got smoked! Then I checked some email, chatted with my wife, flipped on ESPNews to find out that the player from Buffalo might walk again, and before I knew it I was looking at 8:30pm.

I lost about 3.5 hours from what I thought would be homework & studying, but I gained 3.5 hours of relationship-building and family time. I'm grateful that even through these difficult seasons, I'm able to retain balance in life. Of course, here I sit at 1:00am needing to get up about 5:30 or 6:00, but my family knows they are a priority - more important that sleep I reckon.

I generally run with a pretty high octane motor, but there are times when the motor needs to run even a bit faster.... the past week and the week to come are examples of that. Through it all I am so grateful to have a family, friends, co-workers, mentor, and others who understand (at least in part) what makes me tick and love me anyway.

Snizzle...

Now that grades are mostly in for my last MBA course, I think it is safe to write about the challenge my classmates gave me and my ability to come through. Last Thursday I was in Pittsburgh but had to do my on-line presentation via the internet. Simultaneously to watching and participating in the presentations, a few of us had an open SKYPE conversation going as well. Right before I did my piece, I was challenged to work in the word "snizzle" into the presentation. I said that I had no idea what that mean and my co-learner said that was the point.

I took the challenge.

About 1/2 way through my part, I said something like, "creating a strategic plan can be done through a leader having a Mount Sinai type of experience where they descend from the mountain and state, here is the plan. However, a leader can create a lot more ownership and snizzle by going through a process involving more people..." Based on the SKYPE conversation that I went back and read when I was done, I think I earned the respect of my colleagues.

Do I have a point with this one? Nah... just enjoy life, take a challenge now and again, and live large with joy. Later...

Tasered

Last night capped off an exhausting stretch starting last Wednesday which included a bunch of work, a trip to Pittsburgh, an MBA project & presentation, church annual meeting / vision night, launch of a 3rd service & new Sunday morning schedule, some difficult meetings, and finally an MBA class (which mercifully only lasted 3 of the planned 4 hours) last night.

Since the class was done early and I was home by 10:00pm, I thought... cool, I can get some more done. As I started pulling out my laptop I got a brutal case of the chills. My teeth were literally chattering - I felt frozen. I've never been tasered, and I'm assuming you don't feel cold, but it felt like I just got zapped; out of the blue. I put my stuff away and started the quest for as many blankets as possible. If I was sick, I didn't want to get my wife sick and my daughter had crawled into bed with her, so I opted for my daughter's bed. This added to my joy: a 5-foot bed with a footboard is not very exciting for a 6-foot guy who likes to stretch out. At any rate, it was a long night of sweating & chills; I was able to sleep in (for me) and feel somewhat OK this morning.

My point? I think our bodies & minds do have limits and when we hit those limits we get tasered to recognize it and slow 'er down.

Marshmallow what?

Today (Sunday) culminated a crazy past week. We decided to spend the afternoon taking a Sabbath (now, there's an idea). We enjoyed a great lunch together, I went fishing for a couple of hours, then me and the kids had a campfire (while my beautiful bride worked on some stuff for school - yes, she broke her Sabbath). Anyway, the kids and I were killing two birds with one stone - burning up some wood from a clubhouse we had torn down and also enjoying the campfire and roasting marshmallows.

The kids were going to make s'mores, but realized we were out of graham crackers. They got the idea to instead just stick a piece of chocolate inside the marshmallow and then roast them together. After modifying the approach a few times, we fine tuned how to make this quite a tasty treat with the right "meltage" on the chocolate with the right consistency on the marshmallow. We decided the fine-tuned final product was worthy of a name. We tried several out and landed on "Marshmallow Poopers." If you do this right and see the end product, you, too, will realize this is an appropriate name. They taste terrific and I think the name is something that could catch on.

My kids told me to blog on this so we have a record that we thought of this first when this becomes a national craze. The only application of this for the rest of my life is that sometimes we don't have something we think we need and we can decide to scrap our plans... however, with a little ingenuity, trial and error, and persistence, the outcome can be better than even we had everything we thought we needed. I honestly think that even if there are graham crackers and I'm ever offered a s'more, I will probably say, "No thanks, but I'd love a marshmallow pooper!"

Passion / football

I was picking up a few things at the hotel gift shop before I left and a couple of people were talking about football. This hotel worker comes in and starts talking about the Steelers and how (of course) they are gonna be "awesome." One of the other guys says he is a Patriots fan. Without hesitation, the Steelers fan says, "Yeah, but they gotta come into our house on December 9th." I was amazed. I asked him, "Do you have the entire Steelers schedule memorized?" Quickly he said, "Oh yeah, the day the schedule came out."

I love passion in people. We can debate all we want about what we have passion in, but I'm so intrigued by people with passion... I love it. I've had a sign my wife bought me several years ago that is above my bathroom door. When I leave the bathroom I hit it like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hit their sign above the locker room door when they leave. The Notre Dame sign says, "Play like a champion today." My sign says, "Got Passion?"

Now, I'm sure my brother will comment since he thinks he's not a sports fan (close caption to you: Hockey is a sport!). I'm sure my co-worker will comment on this who, for reasons I'll never understand, is in love with all teams from Chicago and the Buffalo Bills (you know who you are my Amish brother).

We (or at least I) are drawn to passion... it stirs something up deep inside of me that encourages me to be passionate. It can create conflict living out loud like that, but it makes me feel alive.

Pitts Cloud 2

Ok, Ok, I wasn't going to make you read too much today, but its getting a little ridiculous how much this leadership revoluation in me is coming up. You know how sometimes you hear or learn a new word and all the sudden you feel like you are hearing that word all the time? This is how I have felt since the flight yesterday... every where I turn I'm thinking about the two elements of leadership that Cloud talked about and my integration (integrity) of both of those pieces into my own leadership development.

I'm at a conference but have a little time here until the next session starts (I know, I'm not networking because I'm sneaking back to my room to prepare for the final project presentation for my current MBA course - need to prepare to do the presentation and for the technology to work). Anyway, I have a few minutes and here is what I've seen since the last blog:
1) Took a shower and there were two huge shower heads. I've never seen that before and let me tell ya, it was aweseome! Anyway, I kept looking at them as how having both parts of leadership is so much better than just one of them.
2) I registered for the conference to find that the theme of the conference is, "Bridging Heritage with Innovation" which hopefully will describe my heritage as a leader bridging over into the brave new world of transformational leadership.
3) I opened up the padfolio they give us (geeky) and inside is a flyer from a financial company offering training programs to promote growth. The one word title of the flyer? "Integrity"

Just thought you'd want to know...

Pittsburgh Cloud

As some of you know from the blogs and/or conversations, I feel I am at a critical juncture in my leadership development and training. For 15 years, my focus has been on the technical; the results; the achieving; the innovating; the systems. As I have been asked (and honored) to serve as Executive Pastor, I believe a large piece of that is because I can bring order to things that are a bit chaotic or, at minimum, less effective than they could be. I also feel I bring leadership that can motivate people to work to their full potential for both their own sake as well as the good of the mission of the organization. I believe I add ability to think strategically; to help an organization move from "vision" to "reality" (credit Bill Hybels).

These strengths are very helpful, but by themselves they allow for strong management of systems and processes. However, to move from management to true transformational leadership, there needs to be much more emphasis on building trust and respect through building relationships. I love people; I love spending one-on-one time with people and hearing their stories and dreams; I love learning from people and helping give insight to others. However, unless I am intentional, I have a tendency to take relationships for granted in my desire to get the work done. I am learning (at times the hard way) the true value of relationship-building (yes, sometimes it takes 2x4s to the head).

This brings me to my title for today. I spent about 1/2 of my flight to Pittsburgh yesterday reading Henry Cloud's book, "Integrity" which I did not expect would be another leadership lesson in building relationships. In the 40 pages or so I got through, Cloud beat me over the head about how integrity is really "wholeness" and how both results and people matter in the wholeness of leadership. Now, I'll need to re-read this later to see if this was even Cloud's key point, but it was the point I took away and needed to hear. For the sake of sparing you additional reading, I'll cut it short there.

As I pondered the past couple days of leadership development (voluntary and involuntary), I was in the shuttle from the airport to the hotel and we went from sort of a regular looking area of the city, under an overpass, and came out the otherside into a whoa! There was the river, the new stadiums, the construction for an under-river tunnel. It was like a whole new world. Almost immediately I started thanking God for putting into my head how the experience of going from regular city to this whole new world is like the transformation of my leadership will be like if I really embrace and apply the leadership lessons I'm learning.

I believe I have the potential to be the kind of leader God is calling me to be. The question is, do I have the humility and courage to change how I do leadership? I am so thankful for a pastor, a boss, a former boss, a mentor, a small group, friends, colleagues, and others who encourage me along the way, but also challenge me in this area. I'm thankful that God has not disqualified me from His calling simply because of my ineptitude, but that He is patient with me as I get hit by leadership 2x4s. I'm thankful that I'm transitioning from learning how to duck, to instead figuring out why the 2x4s are being swung. I'm thankful that I have a desire to be transformed in my heart and my leadership. I'm thankful that my heart passion is to do whatever I need to do to partner with God in the redemption, restoration, and transformation of the people of Isanti County and beyond. I'm thankful for people like you who have linked arms together to see lives transformed for this world and the next. Let's roll!

Texas Hold 'em

I was playing Texas Hold 'em this evening with my three kids (recently turned 11-year old twin boys and my nearly 8-year old daughter). This is a continuation of a game we started a few days ago and in which I'm basically cleaning house... I bluffed my way through a huge pot so I'm not dominating those twerps.

My daughter knows how to check, call, raise, and play her cards but she has not yet mastered the "poker face." OK, mastered isn't even the right word.... my daughter has no clue about how to keep a poker face. In the last hand we played tonight, there was one more card to come up (the "River") and before it was flipped, she said, "I hope I get the card I need!" as she called her brother's "all-in" bet. When the river was flipped she yelled, "Yes!" and started doing a little dance. Based on what was showing, it was obvious that she had drawn into a 5-card straight. She raised the pot significantly... my one son was already all-in, so this was a side pot. My other son had folded earlier and I just had a pair so I folded like a cheap tent.

As Annie pridefully showed her cards, she said, "I have a straight." I said, "Really... where is it?" She answered, "Ace, Two, Three, Four!" I said, "Honey, you need to have 5 in a row." Her response was to say, "I'm so dumb" and start banging her head down on the table. My all-in son quickly realized that although he didn't have squat, his squat beat his sister's squat, and he was able to stay in the game and improve his position.

I think I need to start playing with them for real money.

Our at bat

Our family went to the Twins game on Saturday (a 6-4 win!) but one thing that struck me more deeply than it had before is how each person on the team is asked to fill a specific role; and sometimes a different role depending on the specific situation. As each person comes up to bat, the manager of the team instructs them on what they should to do during their at-bat. Usually, the batter is just asked to try to reach base using their strengths and the hitting coaching they have received specifically for their style -- that is to simply operate in their strengths to hit the ball as hard and as far as possible.

In other situations, they may be asked to bunt or otherwise advance the runner -- that is to sacrifice themselves for the advancement of the other runners to the betterment of the team. What is interesting about this is that when someone successfully sacrifices themselves to advance the other runners, they are greeted when they return to the dugout with the same enthusiasm as when someone gets a base hit.... because they've done their job and improved the chances of their team winning.

Being a good teammate demands putting on different hats at different times; sometimes we swing for the fences, sometimes we coax a walk, sometimes we allow ourselves to be hit by a pitch, sometimes we sacrifice for others, etc. Leadership of a team requires casting a great enough vision that the members of the team are willing to do what it takes, even at the sacrifice of their own glory or batting average, in order to achieve the goal of winning the game and ultimately the championship.

I love this analogy and could go on and on - about how sometimes we get up to bat and strike out without even swinging. I want to make sure I approach every at bat the way my manager wants me to and I don't have a called third strike get past me without taking a cut.