I enjoy reading this book, there are so many one-liners that just make you go "yea" that's right, kind-of that light-bulb moment. Now walking it out, taking the action, and not just sitting back saying what a good book. I hadn't read chapter 5 on our last reading assignment so I will start there.
5- Competence: Show up, keep improving, follow through, accomplish more than expected, and inspire others. Nobody keeps improving without being intentional about it. Wow, put so simply, yet not the easiest to walk out. I think I need to put this on a post-it note and have it on my mirror at home and my computer at work.
6- Courage: There can be no courage unless you're scared, courage begins with an inward battle, courage is contagious, courage can encourage others, courage not only gives you a good beginning but also provides a better future. I love all these sayings. However, I would tend not to think of myself as a courageous person, I don't like to be in a battle, but I don't want to be weak and taken advantage of either. So I'm looking to apply the next saying into my life: courage is making things right, not just smoothing them over, and needing the ability to see when to stand up and the conviction to do it.
7- Discernment: Discernment enables you to use both your gut and your head to find the best option. Sometimes it's easy to follow your gut instinct but not your head and this is were we usually get ourselves in trouble. Also it states that intuition will only increase with use, we need to broaden our horizon experientially. This is definitely an area that I could put more focus on and ask God for His help on.
8- Focus: To achieve focus the keys are priorities and concentration. I'll admit these can get a little skewed in my day to day life. I'm not always good at setting my priorities in the right places and it definitely causes strife in my life. It never fails that when my week is going well it's usually because my priorities are placed in their proper position. This chapter also states that we should focus on what we do well rather than what we do wrong. It's so much easier to beat ourselves up rather than see the good we accomplish. We need to draw from our strengths rather than just focusing on what we did wrong, because a divided focus always works against us.
9- Generosity: True generosity isn't an occasional event, it comes from the heart. Wow, isn't that the truth. I think this is one area of a person's life that can't be faked, you can tell when someone is truly sincere or when they are just going through the motions. Generosity also permeates every aspect of a leaders life, touching his time, money, talents, and possessions. This is something I know for myself I continually lift to the Lord, that I may not become spoiled because I don't let what He has given me pour back out of my life.
10- Initiative: A person who works in this area knows what they want, push themselves to act, takes more risks, and makes more mistakes. I can say that this is a bit more true for me in my job but not so much so for me in ministry. I think it's much more intimidating to have initiative in ministry because there is more of an eternal aspect and maybe you won't always have a second chance to do it right. I hate making mistakes which is probably why I'm more hesitant in this area, probably means I need to work at this quality more.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Vicky's August reading
2 Charisma: The biggest thing that I got out of chapter 2 is to be othersminded. I think that's great quality to have as a leader and something that I will probably always be working on.
3 Commitment: I think that's very important in leadership because people are never going to be more committed than their leader or not for very long.
4 Communication: This is also a very important factor in being a leader - if you have great ideas/vision/purpose but know one understands their part you are not able to accomplish as much.
5 Competence: I think it's human nature to want to follow someone that you believe in and think they will succeed. Most people want to be better than they are right now so you want to follow someone that's better than you so you can learn from them, etc.
3 Commitment: I think that's very important in leadership because people are never going to be more committed than their leader or not for very long.
4 Communication: This is also a very important factor in being a leader - if you have great ideas/vision/purpose but know one understands their part you are not able to accomplish as much.
5 Competence: I think it's human nature to want to follow someone that you believe in and think they will succeed. Most people want to be better than they are right now so you want to follow someone that's better than you so you can learn from them, etc.
Alexis' August Reading
Ch. 2: Charisma
I really enjoyed this chapter because it revealed to me that I need to be more reflective on my conversation with others. I realized how easy it is to focus on myself, but much more valuable when I focus on others. I really need to display myself to the people that I want to be around. People who are fun, confident, humble, loving and giving. I think it will be a challenge to develop "othermindedness". My eyes were definitely opened to how much I have (and our nation) focused on myself.
Ch. 3: Commitment
I thought the Michaelangelo story was really interesting. I know that commitment is needed to achieve goals and succeed. In the past, I have been able to rise to the challenge of being committed as a worship leader, college student, wife and counselor. I continue to look for ways to fulfill what God has laid on my heart.
Ch. 4: Communication
I realized after reading this chapter that I communicate with others because I enjoy learning and helping those in need. I need to improve in the area of SIMPLICITY! Sometimes when I'm talking to my spouse (for example), I get really complicated in explaining myself. I need to simplify my message, and reflect how others are perceiving what I'm saying.
Ch. 5: Competence
I can always improve in this area. At times, my job feels overwhelming, yet I committed to those kids. So I have to choose to re-engage and continue to be passionate in what I do. I don't just want to succeed - I want to surpass what is expected!
I really enjoyed this chapter because it revealed to me that I need to be more reflective on my conversation with others. I realized how easy it is to focus on myself, but much more valuable when I focus on others. I really need to display myself to the people that I want to be around. People who are fun, confident, humble, loving and giving. I think it will be a challenge to develop "othermindedness". My eyes were definitely opened to how much I have (and our nation) focused on myself.
Ch. 3: Commitment
I thought the Michaelangelo story was really interesting. I know that commitment is needed to achieve goals and succeed. In the past, I have been able to rise to the challenge of being committed as a worship leader, college student, wife and counselor. I continue to look for ways to fulfill what God has laid on my heart.
Ch. 4: Communication
I realized after reading this chapter that I communicate with others because I enjoy learning and helping those in need. I need to improve in the area of SIMPLICITY! Sometimes when I'm talking to my spouse (for example), I get really complicated in explaining myself. I need to simplify my message, and reflect how others are perceiving what I'm saying.
Ch. 5: Competence
I can always improve in this area. At times, my job feels overwhelming, yet I committed to those kids. So I have to choose to re-engage and continue to be passionate in what I do. I don't just want to succeed - I want to surpass what is expected!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Eric's Aug Maxwell Reading
I am enjoying this book and it is revealing that it takes alot to be a leader. In the charisma chapter what stuck out to me is put a "10"on everyone, expect the best them and help them reach their potential. In the commitment chapter what stuck out to me was the only real
measure of commitment is action, because saying something and putting it into action are two different things. This can be hard with just everday living and for myself sometimes over-extending myself in committing to others. In the communication chapter this was harder chapter for me because I don't feel I am a very good communicator at least not in public but what stuck out to me was was believe what you speak and live it out. With the competence chapter I liked performing at a high level of excellence is a choice, an act of will and with this help inspire and motivate others to do the same. Looking foward to reading more and hopefully put it into action.
measure of commitment is action, because saying something and putting it into action are two different things. This can be hard with just everday living and for myself sometimes over-extending myself in committing to others. In the communication chapter this was harder chapter for me because I don't feel I am a very good communicator at least not in public but what stuck out to me was was believe what you speak and live it out. With the competence chapter I liked performing at a high level of excellence is a choice, an act of will and with this help inspire and motivate others to do the same. Looking foward to reading more and hopefully put it into action.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Eric's September Goal
Goal: To fast negativity for ONE WEEK. That means choose to respond positively no matter what the situation, and find a way to respond to negativity coming from someone else in a positive way!
Action Steps:
Action Steps:
- I give Theresa permission to be my "observer" while I'm at home. I will let her know when I begin my fast, and she will send accountability emails to Pastor Annette about how I'm doing - both the victories and failures. She does not get to comment or remind me about my fast however. :)
- At work, I don't really have anyone to keep me accountable, but I am still going to commit to doing it.
- I will blog about how the week went and what differences I notice in my thinking as a result of fasting negativity.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Theresa's August Maxwell reading
I must say that I am really enjoying reading this book. I find myself going back over what I just read so that I make sure it's getting in my head. There are so many good quotes and one-liners that keep it so interesting.
Chapter 2: Charisma, this is something I definitely thought people were born with and never knew how to mesure ones' charisma. Reading this I now understand this is a quality everyone can possess but we can increase this quality by having othermindedness. Wow I love this word, and I hope that I will have this at the forefront of my mind at all times. The other line in this chapter that really stood out to me is this: "when you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn." My prayer is that people would see me burn for God and His truth.
Chapter 3: Commitment, this is an area which I know that I should put more focus, that my actions would definitely speak louder than words. He says that true commitment inspires and attracts people. It shows them they you have conviction and that people will believe in you only if you believe in your cause. I want people to be able to look at my life and be inspired and to know that I had true conviction in following God. I want to be as he put it an "all-out".
Chapter 4: Communication, he says here to, simplify your message, see the person, show the truth and seek a response. In the response, when we speak, we should give them something to feel, something to remember, and something to do. That gives me a whole new way of looking at communication, and perhaps remember to think a little more before I speak.
I thought we were only to read to chapter 4, so I'll need to go back and read chapter 5 and post on that. It's all great reading though.
Chapter 2: Charisma, this is something I definitely thought people were born with and never knew how to mesure ones' charisma. Reading this I now understand this is a quality everyone can possess but we can increase this quality by having othermindedness. Wow I love this word, and I hope that I will have this at the forefront of my mind at all times. The other line in this chapter that really stood out to me is this: "when you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn." My prayer is that people would see me burn for God and His truth.
Chapter 3: Commitment, this is an area which I know that I should put more focus, that my actions would definitely speak louder than words. He says that true commitment inspires and attracts people. It shows them they you have conviction and that people will believe in you only if you believe in your cause. I want people to be able to look at my life and be inspired and to know that I had true conviction in following God. I want to be as he put it an "all-out".
Chapter 4: Communication, he says here to, simplify your message, see the person, show the truth and seek a response. In the response, when we speak, we should give them something to feel, something to remember, and something to do. That gives me a whole new way of looking at communication, and perhaps remember to think a little more before I speak.
I thought we were only to read to chapter 4, so I'll need to go back and read chapter 5 and post on that. It's all great reading though.
Theresa's third quarter goal.
Goal: Lately , it has felt like I have had very little down time. I think I need to examine my life and see if over committed. If I am, then I need to take steps to make changes so I don't burn out. If I'm not then seeing it on paper will help me to recognize what down time I really do have and perhaps I need to spend it more wisely.
Action Steps:
1. Print out a standard calendar for one month and write down all of the various activities that I'm regularly involved in during an average month.
2. Include the amount of time that is usually spent on activities and if there is any prep time involved.
3. Then include any social activities that I usually do each month (anything that involves someone other than Eric).
4. Make a list of annual events that I usually participate in and include the amount of time that each one usually requires.
5. Show them to Eric to see if he thinks I'm missing anything.
6. For one week I'm going to pray over the calendar and list, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if there's anything that I'm doing that isn't necessary for His plan for me.
7. Set up a time to go over both with Annette and talk about any issues that may arise from seeing it all laid out.
Action Steps:
1. Print out a standard calendar for one month and write down all of the various activities that I'm regularly involved in during an average month.
2. Include the amount of time that is usually spent on activities and if there is any prep time involved.
3. Then include any social activities that I usually do each month (anything that involves someone other than Eric).
4. Make a list of annual events that I usually participate in and include the amount of time that each one usually requires.
5. Show them to Eric to see if he thinks I'm missing anything.
6. For one week I'm going to pray over the calendar and list, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if there's anything that I'm doing that isn't necessary for His plan for me.
7. Set up a time to go over both with Annette and talk about any issues that may arise from seeing it all laid out.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Annette's Aug Maxwell reading
I blogged about Chapter 2 already, so here are my thoughts on 3-5. Wow I love this book...
COMMITMENT:
Great reminder that "God will see". That should be our #1 motivation to do what we do. Being committed is walking what you're talking - not always easy. Something that really jumped out at me was in the Reflecting section. He talked about 4 types of people: Cop-outs, Holdouts, Dropouts, and All-outs. That is so simple but SO right on! What a great opportunity to reflect on where I am. Our commitment level is pretty easy to measure when we look at our calendar and our checkbook.
COMMUNICATION:
"Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple." (page 23) This summarizes my goal in communicating to students! Breaking down the mysterious Christianese that is out there into a genuine, influential, truthful Gospel message. And if we don't learn to effectively communicate with each other, ministry suffers! We lose effectiveness when we can't work together as a team.
COMPETENCE:
This is really a huge factor for me when it comes to choosing fellow leaders to work with. A lot of people see the need, understand the vision, have passion about what needs to be done...but many of them don't follow through with doing their part in making it happen. This is the major reason that we are doing Signet this year. It's an opportunity for you to seek ways to keep learning, growing and improving. This is a NECESSARY part of leading others. Why should they stretch and grow if they don't see you doing that? Why should a student sacrifice anything to live out their God-given purpose if they see us only doing what is convenient to our lifestyle? Excellence is a choice that we must model to help others around us grow. Good enough can't be good enough.
Help us Lord to implement these qualities we're reading about!!!
COMMITMENT:
Great reminder that "God will see". That should be our #1 motivation to do what we do. Being committed is walking what you're talking - not always easy. Something that really jumped out at me was in the Reflecting section. He talked about 4 types of people: Cop-outs, Holdouts, Dropouts, and All-outs. That is so simple but SO right on! What a great opportunity to reflect on where I am. Our commitment level is pretty easy to measure when we look at our calendar and our checkbook.
COMMUNICATION:
"Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple." (page 23) This summarizes my goal in communicating to students! Breaking down the mysterious Christianese that is out there into a genuine, influential, truthful Gospel message. And if we don't learn to effectively communicate with each other, ministry suffers! We lose effectiveness when we can't work together as a team.
COMPETENCE:
This is really a huge factor for me when it comes to choosing fellow leaders to work with. A lot of people see the need, understand the vision, have passion about what needs to be done...but many of them don't follow through with doing their part in making it happen. This is the major reason that we are doing Signet this year. It's an opportunity for you to seek ways to keep learning, growing and improving. This is a NECESSARY part of leading others. Why should they stretch and grow if they don't see you doing that? Why should a student sacrifice anything to live out their God-given purpose if they see us only doing what is convenient to our lifestyle? Excellence is a choice that we must model to help others around us grow. Good enough can't be good enough.
Help us Lord to implement these qualities we're reading about!!!
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