Input Output

We are all influencers and we are all influenced.

Two questions come to mind:

1.  Who are we influencing and to what end?

2.  Who is influencing us...what are we listening to?

So much of what we have to give and the influence we have depends on what we allow to influence us.  So what we read and how we spend our time has a massive amount to do with what we have to give.  It can be for good or it can be for evil.  What we read, what we watch, who we spend time with.

When my kids were young they used to sing a song called, "Input, Output, What Comes in Must go Out"...and it's true, we are shaped by what we allow to influence us and it comes out of us whether we know it or not.

Confession---I love home decor.  I used to spend time looking at magazines, watching HGTV and was thrilled when I hit the jackpot with a good find at a store.  I still enjoy those things, but a year ago we moved in to a smaller place. I found I had all I needed, not just in terms of things but the place we moved to had wall colors and decor that fit my style.  So for the last year I've taken a bit of a hiatus.  I have what I need so I let so of that go  I found it had taken too much time--it had become an influence, and although not bad, had become a thing that I spent too much time on.
Whatever we put out time and effort into will grow--how do you spend your time?

"Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."  Matt 7.30 NIV

Idea tab:  Invest in people--be a mentor, influence someone...be a friend, encourage them...be a learner, then let someone influence you and thank them for it.

And above all stay humble.

Two things remain, your relationship with God and your relationships with people...consider how you spend your time.

juxtapostion

I have two groups of friends.  Those who love and move in to brokenness and those who love and move toward action, activity and achieving.

Yes I love to be around those who know their own stuff and function out of humility...and I love to be around people who are people of action.

So I feel torn between two worlds.  I read books like Ruth Haley Barton's book, "nurturing the soul of your leadership"  great read...mostly because it challenges me....this is not what I naturally lean in to.  Then I hear Bill Hybles speak about leadership...and when he was very young, he wanted to stand up on the church pew and yell, "would someone please lead"...now that I get.  Leadership from two different perspectives.

So confession time...I know I need to function from a place of knowing who I am, my faults, and areas of weakness.  Part of that is being willing to be wrong, admit it and say sorry.  Part of that is knowing you need other people around you, those who fill in the blanks of your leadership, of my leadership.

When you lead, lead with humility but lead....I mean find out where you're headed and call the troupes to follow, yes get buy in, yes bring a team around you and ask for thoughts and insight, yes collect all the data, yes do the research...but in the end when it's all said and done someone has to say, this is where where headed...follow me.

What type of leader do you best respond to?

Excellence

Excellence: ek-suk-luhns
1. the state of quality of excelling or being exceptionally good; extreme merit; superiority

2. an action, characteristic, feature, ect., in which a person excels


Most of us would say that excellence is something that we shoot for.  An action...as in doing something really well...being exceptionally good...superiority(?)...humm


I have a love/hate relationship with the word excellence.  Let me unpack this for you a bit.  All of us have experienced times when things are thrown together...it shows.


On the other hand when things are done well and run smoothly, everyone knows...excellence has been achieved.


Most would say they admire Jesus...he is a model, yet his example is one where God uses broken people, people we wouldn't pick.  This is huge...he took 12 unschooled ordinary people and changed the world.  

So back to excellence.  I think the word now denotes a more negative tone, one which carries a sense of veneer or facade, or even fake and inauthentic.  The business world is also taking note of this.  Being real and honest..not putting up props..people appreciate this...people don't want to be "sold"


I highly value being real, honest...that allows for connecting....maybe what I'd say is that I hope for competency in tasks and realness in relationship...


What do you think, where is the line?

Growing/leading

So I did it, blogging...it's not the thing I lean in to, writing that is.  I would rather speak than write,  however I have come to realize that those two things usually go hand in hand.  So the question is, can I get my thoughts out in a manner where they make sense.  The verdict will be out on that for awhile but I'm going to start.  Getting some things down because I do like to influence and because of that I will write.  So here it goes..





This is a picture taken on a family vacation last spring on Jekyll Island, GA  I love this picture  because it's a reminder to me that when I get a chance to spread out, I grow. 


This tree is close to the ocean and yet it stands, through wind and rain storms and hurricanes.  It grows deep and spreads out, tall and open, strong and resilient.  It is not in a safe place, yet it stands. 


 It's a picture of leadership.


 It is the very winds and sun and rain that cause this tree to stand firm.


 It's the same in life as I see it.  I would like to be hidden away, safe and secure..... yet the growing comes as storms often do both in life and in nature.  I want to grow but I don't want to take the hits... it doesn't work that way does it? 


So no, you probably won't find me praying for the storms but you will see me stretching to the sky...knowing that storms and growing go hand in hand.