Pope Francis and the Importance of Servant Leadership

Can you remember a time when a new leader brought such palpable inspiration in his first week on the job?

Sure, Marissa Mayer is in the news a lot these days for her leadership at Yahoo. Poor Tim Cook can't catch a break even though Apple continues to amaze its shareholders. Then there's Cheryl Sandberg and the ways in which she's encouraging women in the workplace at Facebook and beyond.

Back to the man that few expected to get the job a week ago in the Vatican- Francis.

Catholics look at this name choice as fairly amazing. Francis is a Jesuit and yet he took a Franciscan name. This would be like me, as a Red Sox fan, naming my firstborn son after a famous Yankees player. Ok, so maybe the Pope's name choice is bigger than that but you get the point- in choosing the name Francis, the Pope made a statement.  Franciscans are still high-fiving one another around the world.

He's telling the Church that he feels that it needs a humble, down to earth, service-oriented pendulum swing. We have plenty of doctrine. Lots of devotions. More than a few novenas. What the Church needs to focus on now is its call to love and serve the least among us.  And not just for a few years as if it were a new marketing campaign.  The Church needs a few hundred years of practical, heart felt religiosity rather than the overly heady stuff that has taken the European and American Church hostage.  

This is scary stuff. Doctrine is easier because it's a matter of belief. Head and heart material for sure but belief nonetheless. Serving the poor? That's about action and it's messy.

Let me provide an example.

I was speaking with a friend recently who had worked with 30 unmarried couples, all preparing for marriage. All 30 were living together. Messy stuff.  I suspect that this is the kind of situation that the new Pope would want us to wrap our arms around.  For better or worse, there are a lot of other messy things surrounding Christians and their practice of the faith.  These include but aren't limited to:

• The fact that most Catholics don't practice the Church's teaching on contraception.
• The fact that so many Catholics voted for Obama, in spite of his pro-abortion views.
• The fact that so few Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  

There is a lot of messy stuff in the world probably because we are complicated and flawed people.  Francis accepts that and wants the Church to take these issues and infuse them with love.

I actually have hope for the first time in an awful long time.  The road will be difficult for sure.  Francis is only one man after all.  Still, if God could raise up Francis of Assisi in a time when the Church was on its knees, he can surely bring us a simple man from Argentina to teach us to serve.

How are you practicing servant leadership in your role at work or at home?

How to Make Your Heart Big Enough to Care

When I was 22 I got a gift.  A friend, Dennis, gave me $37 for my birthday.  He had been saving for weeks and with a big smile, presented the odd amount to me in an crisp envelope.  It may not seem like much today but his gift meant a lot then.  He expected nothing in return- he just wanted to be nice.

Generosity is like that don't you think?

I met with a group of emerging leaders earlier today.  Our topic was generosity.

We discussed Seth Godin's book Linchpin: Are you Indispensable? and the need that the world has for generous leaders.  According to Godin, "Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn't matter. The intent does."

We shared about how bad it feels when someone turns on you and displays the opposite of generosity. No we're not talking about being selfish or about being cheap with time.  Actually it's something far worse.

Transactional kindness.  

Transactional kindness says many things, none of which are good:

• I'll help you if you do something for me ...
• Here is my donation in return for ...
• My service will be extraordinary but only if ...
• This smile is only given to people who ...

Kindness, by its core nature isn't meant to be in exchange for anything.  It's sort of like a road that's just awesome in and of itself.  No matter if it's raining or sunny, the drive feels swell.  My friend Dennis was generous because he valued gift giving in its simplest form.

The artist gives gifts not to make money but because he has something to share.  He can't help but to share what's going on in his head and inside his heart.

I was an artist last week.  I gave a talk and expected nothing in return.  My generosity was in my preparation for the event and savoring each moment of the night.  The result- my heart got bigger and perhaps those in attendance received a gift or two.

When your heart gets bigger, it's usually because you put someone else before yourself.  Dennis did that and I'm learning to do this as well. You can make your heart bigger by practicing the most simple of things.

• Smiling like you mean it
• Looking someone in the eye
• Being inconvenienced by someone else's question
• Pausing before you speak so that you can actually hear the other person
• Trusting that the folks you will encounter today are God's most accurate gift

None of these are particulary scientific but each puts someone else first, if even for a fleeting moment.  That's pretty generous when you think about it.

Question: When was the last time that you gave a gift freely and without expecting a reward?

*photo courtesy of DB

Why a New Year is so Exciting

I like new things. New gadgets, new homes, new arrangements of the furniture after Christmas, new ways of arranging an office. A new tie is usually good unless it blinks. Did I mention new programs at church?

New is fun. New is... new.

It's terrific on the internet how everyone is writing about the over/under on New Year's Resolutions. Some people dig them and others are repulsed by them. Wherever you are at in that spectrum, that's pretty much ok. The key is to find your sweet spot and then go with what works.

My kids and I were playing a game over the vacation which involved planning a next move. My 9 year old son said, "I'm just going to plan as I go."

That's pretty good advice for January and beyond.

How to Avoid Using the F Word (Fatigue)

To what degree does fatigue affect you?  When you find "open space" in your schedule, do you have a hard time making the most of it?  Are you tired each day?

Relaxation is vital to the longevity of anyone who wants to make a difference.  Whether you are a leader, a stay at home mom or a missionary, it's important to relax.  Relaxing then helps you avoid fatigue which is deadly.

When we are fatigued, we make bad choices.  We give in to temptations.  We put ourselves first in a negative way.  We lean into depression.

Thankfully, fatigue is not inevitable.  It's an F Word that we can avoid.

Let's connect fatigue with its counterpart, relaxation.  From a Christian perspective, relaxing is not exactly at the top of most folks' list.  The Protestant ethic, as an example, puts a premium on hard work and long hours of labor.  Catholics aren't too far behind in appreciating the value of work.

This post is meant to challenge both of these persepectives.  

There are many wise people throughout history who have found a value to relaxation or in this context, sabbath rest.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Everywhere I have sought rest and found it not except sitting apart in a nook with a little book.  (Thomas a Kempis)
• Rest time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength... It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less. (Charles Spurgeon)
• Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord and be at peace with yourself. (St. Francis de Sales)

An appreciation for rest and relaxation is not limited to the world of Christianity.  Corporate America is also rediscovering the value of designing workspaces and work schedules that have periodic rest and downtime.

Tony Schwartz, author of Be Excellent at Anything wrote this quite recently, "Sustainable capacity — meaning sufficient fuel in the tank — is what makes it possible to bring one's skill and talent to life. Not even the most talented and motivated employees can run on empty." (original post: "Fatigue is Your Enemy")

So how do you avoid a pace that leads to fatigue?  Here are six suggestions:

1. Drink a lot of water.  This implies drinking less of other things.  Keep the body lubricated via water.  
2. Get good at sleeping.  Look at your sleep as nothing short of a contact sport- it needs to be practiced and perfected over time.
3. Dump the guilt.  Stop beating yourself up if things aren't perfect.  Take it from me as a recovering perfectionist, only in Heaven are things perfect. Pick things up and begin again.
4. Enjoy one or two hobbies.  This helps you to avoid being boring and will help to channel some creative juices that might otherwise be wasted.
5. Move your body.  Walk, run, swim, whatever.  Just get moving several times per week.
6. Put God on your schedule.  Nothing is better than a day that starts with some quiet time.  Scripture, prayer, honest conversation with God.  

Now let's go out there are fend off the F Word that is "fatigue".  Instead, let's build lifestyles that honor God, are enjoyable and include plenty of rest.  

Question: What are you doing regularly to avoid fatigue?

Photo courtesy of TS

Avoiding the Curse of Task Management

Today's Guest Post is from Loren Pinilis who operates Life of a Steward, a site about time management from a Christian perspective. He’s passionate about helping God’s people manage their time and showing them that busyness, stress, and procrastination are answered by the gospel.

We may use OmniFocus or Nozbe. We zealously chase Inbox Zero by using the two-minute rule.

But our focus on task management and productivity can often bring with it a curse – a weakness which actually makes us less productive.

It all started with David Allen’s Getting Things Done. Allen’s approach to the frenzied amount of decisions and information flying at us was to drill down and refine workflow. In other words, focus on mastering the basic building blocks of our day. Get really good at being efficient.

The problem is we then stay in that mindset. We stay at the “runway level” of task management. We become obsessed with efficiently adding items to our lists and efficiently crossing them off.

But we never look up to ask ourselves the big questions. In our zeal for efficiency, we move away from effectiveness. Yes, we may occasionally take a look at the bigger picture when we consider weekly planning or annual goals. But that’s not the big picture I’m talking about.

Do we ever take a step back and ask ourselves why we’re even on Earth? Do we see our daily lives in the context of eternity? Because when we do, we get a very different view of our work.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men

Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

This insight absolutely changes our life.

Now, crossing things off of our list isn’t our primary focus – it’s stewarding our resources well. Now, meeting our deadlines takes a back seat to bringing glory to God. Now, we work with purpose – every second of our day. Now, we will strive towards goals that really matter.

Now, we have to depend on Christ because we won’t be able to measure up to his perfect standard in our own power.

But now, we are given tremendous freedom. We’re not called to be somebody else. We’re not punished for failing to be as influential as a celebrity, author, or CEO. The sovereign God who created the universe doesn’t call us to achievement in the eyes of the world – but to obedience wherever we are right now.

And to bring this full-circle: that obedience can be achieved, in part, by efficiency and task management.

Mastering workflow is great. Efficiency is to be prized. But be sure to connect that efficiency to true effectiveness.

Question: Do you struggle with forgetting what true effectiveness is? What are some practices that can help us remember?

*Photo courtesy of LP