What's Your Demeanor During Meetings?

Most leaders uncover moments in their week when they can stretch their leadership muscles.

This may be in the form of a memo, an all-company email or a town hall meeting. It can be as subtle as a brief conversation in the hallway or during a conference call.

It may also be during meetings. I was in a meeting recently when I saw a very surprising side of one of the participants. While normally reserved, he became aggressive and proceeded to talk over people.

What's your meeting demeanor? Do others see you as confident, calm and collected?

The opposite might have negative effects, not only on your meeting but on your leadership as a whole.

Timeliness and Service

I spoke earlier this week at a Catholic church on the topic of the corporal works of mercy.  I've included the slideshare deck below.  I created the slides with Apple Keynote and then made some edits such that Slideshare could render the slides more easily.  If you find it helpful, let me know.

Works of mercy

View more presentations from Mike St. Pierre

 

 

View more presentations from Mike St. Pierre

An Introvert's Stand

Inspired by Randy Elrod's "A Creative's Lament", I've penned my own.

An Introvert's Stand

For the time when I stood off by myself

For the person that I ignored in the grocery store

For the neighbor that I only waved to

For the event that exhausted me

I offer my hands

This open gesture is one of apology

It tells the world that I'm not perfect and am a work in progress

There are times when work consumes

When efficiency motivates

When people exhaust

An every day struggle in an extroverted world

But I am an introvert, God infused

More willing to pray than the gladhanders

More able to listen

More comfortable with silence

Thoroughly at home in nature

Completely at peace with myself

This is a stand of self awareness

 

Online and Misunderstood

Earlier today I spent some time with a group of teenagers, talking about blogging and Web 2.0.  When I asked how many students read blogs on a regular basis, only 1 of 25 raised his hand.

Typical.

If I were to ask a group of adults the same question, a similar percentage would acknowledge that their online work is pretty much summed up on one word: Google.  (ok, and maybe bill paying, Ebay and Craigslist)

Most people I know don't read that many blogs nor understand what they are all about.

This is why bloggers must stay the course, patiently explain their craft and edit the myth that blogging is only about ranting and raving.

But you already knew that.

Following up: Why I Stopped Reading Your Blog by Michael Hyatt

What I've Learned from 365 Days of Prayer

If there is one book that God has used to stir my spiritual life, it's Bill Hybels' Too Busy Not to Pray.  I read this just over a year ago and began an adventure of daily prayer that, this past week, marked 365 continuous days of devotions.

Hard to believe!

I've been a Christian for a long time but in only two periods of my life did prayer become real for me.  First, when I was in college, my prayer life was quite vibrant and alive.  Now as a result of reading Hybels' book, I'm thankful that I've hit another patch of spiritual consistency.

God gets the credit.

My previous post documented what I learned from only three weeks of prayer.  Little did I know that we would be here, one year later to report on this "spiritual experiment".  Here are my findings:

• Simple is good. I've used the ACTS method of prayer and its strength lies in the simple approach to prayer: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication.


• The journal is key.  By writing down my prayers and complimenting them with verbal prayers, prayer has become more real for me.  I use a simple .99$ notebook from the grocery store.


• Flexibility is important. As life has "seasons" when some things work and some things don't, so too does prayer have its moments.  I've had to change up my Scripture reading, times of day and length of journaling depending on how things were going.


• There is no perfect moment. If you wait for the perfect moment to pray, it won't happen.  It will never be totally quiet and you will never hit an hour in the day when you feel perfectly ready for prayer.  The key as Nike coined years ago, just do it.


• Prayer is about relationship and communication.  In the beginning, my devotions were something that I wanted to test out.  Then, it became something that I had to work at.  Now, I can't imagine not having a daily time of prayer.  My relationship with God needs good communication and by starting the day with prayer, I'm placing Him first on my list.


• Prayer is about sabbath. Jesus was very serious about taking time to slow down.  Daily prayer peels off a little bit of sabbath time and inserts it in days other than the sabbath.

Wherever you are in your spiritual life, it's never too late to begin a new season of prayer.  Anyone can do it, it costs nothing and there may be no better use of your time. What are you waiting for?

Here's to another 365 days!  I'd love to know what's working in your devotional life so that prayer is real and alive for you...