Leadership Lessons from Sid the Kid

One of my personal commitments is to be a life long learner. I love Martha Stewart's advice, "learn something new every day." I have been a student of leadership for many years and while I have learned a great deal from serious research and scholarly writing, I have discovered that some of the best lessons are right in front of me, hidden as gems in everyday life.

Last night I learned something from Sidney Crosby. It has been an amazing spring season of hockey as the Pittsburgh Penguins have had an incredible run to the Stanley Cup Finals. First the Ottawa Senators went down in four straight, followed by the New York Rangers in five and the hated Flyers in five as well. All that stands in the way of Lord Stanley's cup returning to the 'Burgh are the Detroit Red Wings.

No one thought this would be easy, but. Last night the Pens returned to Pittsburgh down two games to none. Not only did they lose the first two games played in Detroit, they were serious ass kickings. Completely outmatched and outmuscled, the Pens waddled home and even serious fans wondered if they would ever even score a goal, yet alone win a game.

There is a good reason why the “C” rests on Sid’s sweater. It’s not because he is the best hockey player in the world (though he arguably may be); it is because he leads by example. Sometimes leaders need to keep their mouth shut and simply get it done. Sid is not known as a pure goal scorer; he is much more gifted at setting his teammates up and racking up amazing assist totals. And the Penguins have won a lot of games in that manner. But last night he would not be denied. The Pens would score and Sid literally willed the puck into the net and turned the red light on, not once, but twice. And in so doing he led his team to a 3-2 victory.

Today I realized that I have been doing too much talking about a couple of things. Sid the Kid reminded me that maybe I should just shut my mouth and simply do it. It is amazing what you can learn from twenty year old.

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Knowing-Doing Gap (Part 2)

If you will look closely at this picture, you will see that there are people who do not believe I have resolved my guitar crush. Guitar be loosed!

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A Prayer for Our World

On Fridays I join with other sisters and brothers from around the globe to pray the Micah Challenge. The Micah Challenge is part of a global Christian campaign and its aims are to deepen engagement with impoverished and marginalized communities, to challenge leaders to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and so halve absolute global poverty by 2015! The Micah Challenge USA is a movement of Churches, organizations, Schools, families, and individuals united by their desire to see the end of Extreme Global Poverty.

Each Friday an update is forwarded by Regine Nagel, Micah Challenge’s national campaigns coordinator, and prayers are focused around one of the MDG goals. Today's focus: Goal 2 which is to ensure access to primary schooling for all children. One of the targets is to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. The good news is that in the past seven years 40 million more children are in school and the gender disparity in primary and secondary schools has declined by 60 percent, but yet 75 million children remain out of school. When Barb and I were in Ethiopia, we experienced this reality - the blessing of seeing both boys and girls attending school and the reality that many children (for a number of reasons) to not have access as of yet to a simple, foundational education.

Today's prayer focus included a reflection written by Peter Grieg that was based upon the Lord's Prayer. As you consider all that is going on around the globe right now, both near and far and everywhere in-between, may these words enflame our hearts and embolden our actions.

"Our Father, holy and awesome is your name.
Your Kingdom come and your will be done on this broken earth,
as it is in the Heavens.

Have mercy on the millions of families oppressed by:
disease, disaster, unjust laws, poor living conditions or the destruction of their environment.

Forgive us Father for not considering how our choices affect them.

Move our hearts, enlighten our minds and stir our spirits to pray.

Help us to:
Act justly,
Love mercy
And walk humbly with you.

We volunteer.
Motivate us to become the answer to the prayers on our lips

In You is the power,
With You there can be change,
Through us make it happen;

Amen."

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The Knowing-Doing Gap

During a run today I loaded up a message from John Ortberg on my iPod. It was the first in a new series of teachings they are doing at Menlo Park Church based upon the Sermon on the Mount; the series is called, "The World's Greatest Talk." I really appreciate John's teaching and over the years I have learned a great deal from him - not only about theology, the Scriptures and the kingdom of God, but about the art of communication as well. John is a masterful communicator and his grasp of the Scriptures and understanding of the interworkings of the human psyche make for some powerful messages.

John referenced a study that was done a number of years ago by a couple Stanford Business School professors, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton. The results of the study eventually ended up in a book, “The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action.” Here’s the essence of it:

The most menacing phenomenon most organizations face is the knowing-doing gap, where knowledge is not implemented. This phenomenon costs billions of dollars and failures of all kinds. The world is full of knowledge experts but short on doers who can implement knowledge personally and/or organizationally. The most destructive aspect of the knowing-doing gap is the substitution of various talking activities for action where myriad members of the organizations make decisions that change nothing.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the knowing-doing gap only existed in organizational life? Unfortunately, most of us know all to well that it exists in our own life experience. I got smacked round a bit today by the reality of the knowing-doing gap.

A couple of weeks ago at a music rehearsal, I broke a string on the acoustic guitar I was playing. Instead of taking the time to change the string, Joe simply handed me another guitar to carry me through. I had never played the guitar before, but immediately fell in love with it. A black Godin ACOUSTICASTER - a serious guitar crush if you will. This morning I began to fantasize about the guitar. I imagined the amazing songs I could play on it and the sounds it would produce. I imagined how cool it would look - actually how cool I would look if I were playing it (you never knew I was so shallow).

Now you might be thinking, what’s the big deal. Here’s the big deal. Our community of faith is in the midst of a series of worship gatherings wrapped around the theme, “The Big Give.” The purpose of the series is to see compassion unleashed and to help our community grow in our generosity quotient. Guess who is doing the teaching? I have been challenging our community to face the demons of consumerism and to give stuff away.And I had even spent much of the morning reflected upon these words from 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

And all I could think of was a way to obtain this guitar.

It was a good thing I listened to John’s message this afternoon and as I heard these familiar words of Jesus, I realized afresh the knowing-doing gap in my life needs to be confronted head on.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (Matthew 7:24-27)

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Gift Card Giver (A Personal Giving Project)

Right now our community of faith is in the midst of a series entitled "The Big Give." The genesis of the series was the Federal Government's economic stimulus plan which included included the distribution of tax rebate checks. Over the next three months, the US Treasury Department will distribute more than $110 billion to 130 million taxpayers. What will you be doing with your check? Spending it, saving it, paying off debt, giving it away? The series has been designed to help us develop a biblical mindset in regard to our possessions and my hope and prayer is that compassion will be unleashed among our people and that our community will grow in our generosity quotient (gq).

One of the things we are doing is spending some quality time in the Scriptures. You can check out some of the teaching I have done in this series on our audio site "Thinking Out Loud." The second component is something we are calling a personal giving project (PGJ). What is a PGJ? The name pretty much sums it up. It is personal - what might God be placing on your heart right now? A person, place, or specific ministry or organization. It involves giving - our time, talent and treasure. And it is a project. It should involve more than just writing a check. God wants to do something IN us as well as THROUGH us. This is an opportunity to stretch and grow and experience a measure of true transformation.

Let me share a cool personal giving project that was started by Jeff Shinabager. Jeff was one of the organizers of Q and there he shared the story of Gift Card Giver. Jeff and his wife had an idea to collect gift cards and give them to people in need. They were sitting at a table during a wedding reception and they asked the 8 other people sitting with them how much money they had in their wallets of unused gift cards; they soon walked away with $50 in gift cards to help people in need. GiftCardGiver was born.

The gift card industry is huge. Some estimate it as a $45 billion enterprise. Ever wonder how many gift cards are unused? At least 10%. That means billions of money is being wasted and could be used to help bless people.

How many gift cards do you have sitting in your wallet or purse? My guess is you have at least $5 of unused gift cards in your wallet or purse right now. What’s $5 going to buy you? $5in gift cards might buy you a pair of socks…but 10 people giving $5 will buy a kid a winter coat or 100 people giving $5 from Home Depot will give that same kid a warm bedroom to sleep through the night. Get the idea?

Here's the process:
STEP 1: Use as much of your card as you want.
STEP 2: Write how much is left on your card using a permanent marker.
STEP 3: place the card in an envelope and send it to Gift Card Giver at:

Gift Card Giver
490 East Side Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30316

Questions? Check out their FAQ at Gift Card Giver.

This is an example of a small idea and concept that has unleashed comapssion and helped people grow in the generosity quotient (GQ). What might God be stirring up inside you?

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Azzeria

Yesterday I spent about six hours in one of my favorite spots in the south hills of Pittsburgh: Azzeria. It is a great place and operates on both sides of Banksville Road - one location during the daylight hours and the other during the late afternoon and evening rush.

I began my morning with a strong cup of coffee and conversation with two of my Venti Africa partners, Barb and Marilyn. We also feasted on some amazing breakfast panini, egg, cheese, roasted tomatoes, all wood-fired and so tasty!

After our meeting I spent a couple of hours crafting my message for Sunday. This is week three of "The Big Give," and we'll be exploring the big idea that we are blessed to be a blessing. Scott Hodge turned me on to some software that I am been playing with this week. It's called MindManager (no jokes about my mind needed managed, thank you!) and it enables you to create visual maps of meetings, projects, and even Sunday morning messages. Azzeria is a great environment for me to work in as it is open and bright, they always are playing great music, their wi-fi is always functioning, and Gary, Mike, and the rest of the staff have the good sense of intuition to know when their customers need some space or need some conversation and interaction to keep the creative juices flowing.

Around 1:30 PM, Patty, Nathan and Hannah joined me for lunch. Azzeria's white pizza is simply the best (Hannah made the wise choice of a chicken pesto panini and as someone who has been to Italy recently she gave it rave reviews). And even though Azzeria is BYODC (bring your own diet coke) you can't find a better place to enjoy good food, good people, and good space to create.

Where's your favorite spot to eat, work, and connect with people?

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Ever Been Kissed by a Penguin?

Are you following the Pens in the playoffs? Tonight could be the big night as the Pens have the opportunity to accomplish their second straight sweep with a victory over the New York Rangers. They are on an amazing run right now and it is fun to watch the young guns hit their stride on the ice - let's go Pens!

Have you ever been kissed by a penguin? Watch this interview with George Laraque - a kiss from a penguin - priceless.



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