Thoughts on Life and Leading

I have a memory that haunts me. I was with a group of guys on a short-term missions trip to Central America. We were doing a construction project and, as is usually the case on these trips, one of the guys got pretty sick. Actually, we thought he had the flu, he was sick when we got on the plane in the US. I was rooming with this guy on our trip. (we stayed at a ½ star $8 a night hotel!)

Here’s what bothers me. I didn’t want to get sick. I was leading the trip and I really couldn’t afford to be wiped out. So I went to another room. I abandoned this guy when he was really sick. I protected myself.

That has been 10 plus years ago and it still comes to mind every few weeks. I consider this to be one of my greatest failures as a leader. I blew it. I did get a chance to apologize to the guy later, and he didn’t seem to hold it against me, but I no doubt let him and myself down.

Leading is serving, plain and simple. Looking out for the best interest of others. Putting others before yourself. I don’t have to tell you that Jesus is the greatest leader of all time, in part, because He laid down his life for His friends.

God help me to never repeat this mistake.

Back to the dentist on Friday. I had some impressions made. If your haven’t had this thrill, it is where they fill your mouth with quick-dry cement. They try to make the experience more tolerable by giving the concrete a – non concrete taste. It doesn’t help much. The hygienist loaded up the mouthpiece-shaped tray and held it in my mouth. “It only takes a few minutes to set up”, she said. It did. Within a couple of minutes, this stuff was hard as a rock and she removed it from my mouth.

If you read this blog, you know where I am going. Sorry to be Captain Obvious. It only takes a few minutes to set up an impression. People form opinions about us within the first few seconds of meeting us. Right or wrong, they determine what kind of people we are and whether or not they like us based simply on the way we present ourselves. I do it all the time, you do, too.

What impressions are we making? Is there anything in our at-first-glance lives that speak of hope? Is there anything in us that help turn someone toward Christ? I believe that it is entirely possible to impact someone, at least on a minimal level, in only a few seconds. If you don’t believe me, think about the last time a total stranger smiled at you. It helped, didn’t it?

Sometimes you have a lifetime. Sometimes you have a split second.

The late Dr. S.M. Lockeridge, a preacher from San Diego, California said these words in a sermon in Detroit in 1976:

That’s My King!

My King was born King. The Bible says He’s a Seven Way King. He’s the King of the Jews – that’s an Ethnic King. He’s the King of Israel – that’s a National King. He’s the King of righteousness. He’s the King of the ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of glory. He’s the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. Now that’s my King. Well, I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don’t try to mislead me. Do you know my King? David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is the only one of whom there are no means of measure that can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of the shore of His supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. That’s my King. He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s saviour. He’s the centrepiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He’s honest. He’s unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s pre-eminent. He’s the grandest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He’s the supreme problem in higher criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of historic theology. He’s the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That’s my King.He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He’s the only one able to supply all our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He’s the Almighty God who guides and keeps all his people. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharged debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek. That’s my King.Do you know Him? Well, my King is a King of knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory. He’s the master of the mighty. He’s the captain of the conquerors. He’s the head of the heroes. He’s the leader of the legislatures. He’s the overseer of the overcomers. He’s the governor of governors. He’s the prince of princes. He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords. That’s my King.His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you . . .but He’s indescribable. He’s indescribable. That’s my King.He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. I’m coming to tell you this, that the heavens of heavens can’t contain Him, let alone some man explain Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him. The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree about Him. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. That’s my King.He always has been and He always will be. I’m talking about the fact that He had no predecessor and He’ll have no successor. There’s nobody before Him and there’ll be nobody after Him. You can’t impeach Him and He’s not going to resign. That’s my King! That’s my King!Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Well, all the power belongs to my King. We’re around here talking about black power and white power and green power, but in the end all that matters is God’s power. Thine is the power. Yeah. And the glory. We try to get prestige and honour and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all His. Yes. Thine is the Kingdom and the power and glory, forever and ever and ever and ever. How long is that? And ever and ever and ever and ever. And when you get through with all of the ‘ever’s, then . . . Amen.

My buddy, Jeremy Self has been working for a couple of years on a new church that he is planting in Austin, Texas. They are scheduled to begin on Sunday. That’s right, the very weekend that all of South Texas is supposed to be blown away by Hurricane Ike.

Let’s pray for Jeremy and his family and the people of Free Chapel. Let’s ask God to weaken the storm, to protect life and property. Let’s count on God to, in some way, bring hope and life out of this really bad situation. Let’s remember, some of the coolest miracles of Jesus happened in storms.

Jeremy, we love you guys and are holding you up! A little old cat 3 hurricane can’t stop you!

On Sunday, between our 9:00 and 10:45 services, I slipped away to my office to get something to drink and to pray for a couple of minutes. I have been praying for some of the people as they drive up and for the services in general. My office is upstairs overlooking one of our parking lots so I can see some of the people arriving, going into the church.

I looked out as a young family, obviously new, came out of the Worship Center looking for the place to take their kids. Clearly, they did not know where to go. They looked around at the building across the lot and kind of meandered toward one of the entrances, only to then change directions and head for the other door. I stood there helpless, very afraid that they would, out of frustration, just go back to their car. Understand, we have great First Impressions people who normally would handle this, but this family had fallen through the cracks. Here is where the story gets worse. One of our oldest members – by that I mean this person has been around the church for a LONG time – walked up to and right on by this new, lost family. This person did not say a word, as far as I could tell, didn’t even acknowledge that this family was even there. I wanted to jump out the window – not to kill myself – but to try to salvage the situation. I felt guilty for a couple of minutes of rest when I could have been down there personally greeting this new family.

It is difficult to preach with composure when you have just seen such blatant insensitivity and rudeness exhibited by a “mature” follower of Jesus, but God helped me. I wish I could say that this person is blind. In a way they are. Apparentl seeing-impaired to the purpose of the church.

The good news is, the lost family eventually found their way to the children’s ministry area and the parents came back into the worship service. I did not get to meet them, have no idea what their names are and have no clue if they will ever come back. Honestly, with a start like that, I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t. Hopefully, something that was done or said allowed them to see the heart of God as expressed by His church.

Maybe they were blind, too. Maybe they couldn’t see the seasoned church member. Possibly they were oblivious to this person’s insensitivity. Maybe they were also ignoring this person. I can only hope.

I am glad to say, this is an unusual occurrence at Maranatha. And eventually, we will get more people on board to the vision of reaching people for Christ. Until then, I am going to keep praying and I’ll be sure to keep my windows locked.

I speed-read Randy Alcorn’s book, The Treasure Principle. I didn’t rush through it because it was not good or I did not like it. I just have too much reading to do and I am trying to catch up.

The book is very helpful, not wonder it was a huge seller. The subtitle is: Unlocking the Secrets of Joyful Giving. This is well stated. For most people, there is no joy in giving, or at least the joy is being kept secret. That is unfortunate, because at least two of the results of this are people don’t give and “meetable” needs are not met.

Let me give you a couple of good quotes from the book, as well as the key principles that Alcorn sets forth.

“You can’t take it with you – but you CAN send it on ahead.”
“The less I spent on myself and the more I gave to others, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become.” J Hudson Taylor
“Giving isn’t a luxury of the rich. It’s a privilege of the poor.”
“You couldn’t pay me enough not to give.”
“We think we own our possessions but too often they own us.”
“I have held many things in my hand and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” Martin Luther
“I used to rob six convenience stores a year. This year, by His grace, I’m going to rob only three.” (a commentary on people who decided to give God only part of what is His.)

Treasure Principle #1: God Owns everything. I’m His money manager.
We are the managers of the assets God has entrusted – not given – to us.
Treasure Principle #2: My heart always goes where I put my money.
Watch what happens when you reallocate your money from temporal things to eternal things.
Treasure Principle #3: Heaven, not earth, is my home.
We are citizens of “a better country – a heavenly one” ( Hebrews 11:16)
Treasure Principle #4: I should not live for the dot but for the line.
From the dot – our present life on earth – extends a line that goes on forever, which is eternity in heaven.
Treasure Principle #5: Giving is the only antidote to materialism.
Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. It dethrones me and exalts Him.
Treasure Principle #6: God prospers me not to raise my standard of living but to raise my standard of giving.
God gives us more money that we need so we can give – generously.

Alcorn has a really nice Giving Covenant available. Check it out and apply as necessary.

If you haven’t read the book, pick it up. I hope every member of our church reads it. If you can’t afford a copy, I’ll buy you one. But only after you have given up Starbucks and cable TV and the day spa… 🙂

I just returned from a two day retreat with a group of nine friends. It is what we call our Covenant Group. We are basically a small group that has been together for about 3 years. We are all pastors and meet once a month for 3 hours to share life and ministry. Once a year, we spend a few days together praying and discussing our work.

These guys have become great friends. We are a diverse group with lots of ministry approaches represented. There are some younger guys and a couple are more seasoned. We live in big cities and small towns. We serve larger churches and smaller churches. We have committed to pray with and for each other, to hold one another accountable and to do what we can to encourage effective ministry in one another.

There is incredible value in groups like this. There is much to be gained in accountability to and responsibility for other people. I believe that everyone should have some type of covenant relationship.

If you are not already doing this, give it some serious consideration.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of the month, our time to observe Holy Communion. Sometimes I approach this sacred time in a clearly non-biblical way. I rush in, with no forethought, no preparation. Not this time.

I am thinking tonight about what Christ accomplished on the cross. How much eternal good was accomplished in six hours on one Friday so long ago?

Count Nikolaus Ludwig Von Zinzendorf said, “For all at once, all sin is atoned for on the Cross, the entire Fall is erased, and the whole obligation to Satan and the entire sentence passed upon the fall of Adam is torn up, cancelled, and annulled by the nails of Jesus.”

How much has He done for me and what should be my response?

Unless you live in a cave (in which case you probably don’t have access to the internet and therefore can’t read this post), you are already sick of hearing about Hurricane Ike. We in South Florida certainly are. This time of year always brings trepidation about the possibility of a major storm. The last two weeks have been typically trying. Ike has everyone on edge.

I have heard over the last few days from a few people who live down here who are choosing to leave town before the storm has a chance to hit. I really don’t blame people if they are able to scoot. Even if the evacuation proves unnecessary, waiting until the last minute can prove to be a mistake.

One of the interesting things about serving in local church ministry leadership is the idea that you can’t leave. Unless EVERYONE else departs, you have to stay. I am OK with that. I would never want to give anyone the impression that they are abandoned by their spiritual leadership in a time of crisis. It would be terrible to be needed and to be out of sight. I think it is kind of the “captain going down with the ship” thing. This is not an effort to appear noble. It is a realization that leadership responsibility runs deep.

The ship will not sink. If, by chance it does, I really wouldn’t want to be up north, safe and sound. I don’t think I could live with myself. I also don’t think I would have any credibility left once I returned to town. If someone needs prayer or encouragement or a helping hand, I want to be here.

If you are reading this from someplace north of, say Florida, and west of, say North Carolina, pray for us. Pray that the storms die out. Pray that the active storms lose strength. Pray for the storm victims in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas and Cuba. Pray for the people of the New Orleans area who are trying to recover from Gustav (and Katrina!). Pray for people and homes in the Keys. People are being evacuated in prep for the storm. As of 8PM on Saturday night, Key West could suffer a direct hit from a cat 4. Pray that the emotional pressure that is caused by all of this uncertainty will settle. Pray that churches can meet on Sunday and bring comfort to the worshippers. And pray that no leaders abandon ship.

Thanks!

Our culture is in dire need of something in which to hope. People are desperate for a container, some place that will hold their confidence. Most buckets that have worked in the past have developed holes.

There is a skepticism regarding politics that has not been seen in recent times. A significant portion of our population scoffs at the idea that a particular man or woman is the answer to our country’s woes. Many of those who vote do so out of obligation and a sense of civic responsibility. There is no delusion of actually making a difference.

Our government has blown it in so many areas that not many citizens have maintained any trust.

Our economy is in the tank. People who once held their future secure in their savings are now wondering if there is a future. Instability personifies the world markets. Consumer confidence is now an irrelevant term.

Religion is a joke to many, nothing more than ritual to others. The optimism that organized religion is our hope is a thing of the past.

Any thoughts about the basic goodness of humankind carrying us forward are dispelled with each suicide bomb and each beyond-brutal crime.

Sounding pretty bleak?
Sounds like the perfect opportunity for today’s purveyors of hope. The church of Jesus Christ has been given a wide-open door. All we have to do is speak up. We don’t have to go looking for converts , all we have to do is live. Live in our communities, breath the same air as our neighbors, engage in life around us.

One of my favorite, life-giving scriptures is I Peter 3:15 “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (TNIV) Hope is organic in the life of the believer and it should be clearly detectible. I believe that hope in the middle of despair is one of the more apparent and attractive character traits of a Christ-follower.

The church that offers hope offers Christ. The church that reneges on its responsibility to share hope with a hurting culture is no church at all. It is a gathering of struggling people who are operating outside of God’s intentions. We would be no better off than any other social organization.

This is it, this is our chance. Let’s not blow it. Share the treasure of hope. It is the most valuable resource you have. It is the greatest need in the world.

The story of Josiah in II Kings 22 and 23 is pretty cool. This is a young leader (8 years old when he took office!) who led his followers into and through an intense process of spiritual renewal. When you get a few minutes, read the details of his life and accomplishments.

It all started when he gave orders to repair the temple of worship. I think this reflects a heart that understands the priority of putting God first. Too many of us, I believe, are willing to neglect the important details of our relationship with God. Not Josiah.

While the workers were deep into the renovations, they discovered a scroll which contained the Word of God. These documents had been missing for some time and the people were unaware of what they contained. You can imagine that they were excited to open them and see what God had to say. What they read was not pleasing or comforting, in fact, they were convicted by what they read as they realized that they had, through ignorance and neglect, been living in complete disobedience to God.

Josiah, being the strong leader that he was, led the way to a time of far-reaching repentance. These people were genuinely sorry for their sins.

Chapter 22 ends and chapter 23 begins with a spiritual cleansing of the entire land. Josiah again leads the way, this time in ridding the land of all of the false gods that the people had been worshipping. I would imagine that this move required a lot of courage. Keep in mind that this action makes him an agent of change because his father and many other former leaders had led the way into idol worship. Although he was young, he did not mind standing up for what was right and changing the direction of the nation.

I like Josiah and I like his leadership style. Identify what is a priority. When God responds to our commitment to do the right thing, listen to what He has to say. If/when he tells you something that you need to adjust, pay attention. Lead the way in repentance when necessary (and it is often necessary). Once this happens, lead again, in cleaning up your act. This may go against the flow and it may take real courage to turn things around, but do it.

Check out these accolades: II Kings 23:25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did-with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. (NIV)

Read about Josiah, study his style and be motivated to be the same kind of leader.

Approaches to ministry are as varied as people. I would like to say that there is no right or wrong way to try to reach people for God but that simply isn’t the case.

The wrong way is the one that doesn’t work. If our efforts result in no one coming to Christ, no disciples, no food for the hungry or friends for the lonely, it is not working. This is the wrong way to do God’s work.

The right way to do ministry is the way that works. The results are obvious – people come to know and love Christ. They are discipled in the ways of scripture. People are given hope. This is ministry that works.

A ministry philosophy that works is missional in its approach. The leaders know what will reach the people and families in the community. There isn’t a lot of time wasted with ineffective programs. Each local culture is different and it is the responsibility of ministry leaders to know the culture and direct ministry accordingly.

Let’s not get caught up in tradition or labels or what is popular. Let’s get caught up in effectiveness. Regarding results, keep in mind that Jesus said, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:19 NCV)

Let’s do what works.

As Gustav barrels toward and through Cuba, probably on its way to the New Orleans Gulf Coast, we should be praying for those in its path. This cat 3 hurricane with speeds of 120 mph (building to a category 5 with 155 mph winds) has already killed 78 people in the Caribbean. The landslides, floods and high winds resulting from this storm are deadly.

Hanna is another storm out there rolling along. There are also two more tropical storms that are being tracked off the coast of Africa. Good times at the beach.

Unless you live in an area that has been impacted by a hurricane, you can’t imagine the emotional impact of coming storms. People are on edge and rightfully so. By the way, we in Florida are not praying that the storms will turn away from us and hit someone else. 3 years ago, Katrina passed directly over us as a tropical depression and developed into the historic hurricane that wiped out New Orleans. While we are grateful for the protection, we don’t consider their loss as our gain. It is all pretty humbling.

Because of the infrastructure in the US, we are much more able to deal with these natural disasters as are less developed nations. As bad as previous hurricanes have been and even considering the terrible job that FEMA has done, we can handle these storms better than people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica…

Plainly, I am praying that these storms fall apart or at least hit uninhabited areas. If they hit populated areas, I am praying for the storms to weaken. If the storms are powerful and hit developed areas, I am praying for God’s hand to protect life.

God is in control. Let’s turn to Him for help.

Uttermost. Kind of a strange word, one we never hear used anymore. In fact, I can’t remember using the word for many years, the last time, while reading from the old King James Bible. Here is a verse that uses the word, “uttermost”. Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (KJV) In my opinion, this old word describes the concept of the teaching better than any more modern word we can use. The word in the original Greek language is panteles (pan-tel-ace’) which is defined as “full-ended, entire, or complete”. This verse is telling us that Jesus is able to save us completely, without limit, with no end. A couple of more modern translations say: “Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” (NLT) and “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (TNIV)

I think “uttermost” says is better. Just something direct about it, it leaves no question. When describing the level to which Christ saves us, I think that being thorough is important. Uttermost. That says it.

Joshua 24:31 The people of Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him—those who had personally experienced all that the Lord had done for Israel. (NLT)

This scripture comes after Joshua died. I think it is interesting to see how the impact of one man runs deep and lasts beyond his years. Throughout his lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of the men who worked with him, the people under their influence followed God. Joshua’s legacy of serving God lived on. An important note is that these people had a personal experience. They saw with their own eyes what God had done. Being a great leader, Joshua led the people into a personal encounter. And that encounter outlived the leader.

This is a motivating thought for me. If we do it right, we can influence others long after we are gone. Let’s be sure that our motive is to influence people toward God. Let’s experience God first-hand and influence others to do the same.

This was one of the more productive and satisfying weekends of ministry for us in recent memory. We had a blast at the Fusion Conference in Clearwater. We received a lot of affirmation from the people there, apparently what I shared made a difference. We also enjoyed some great breakout sessions and I gained some real perspective on several important issues from some pastor-friends. We made a few new friends as well.

The ministry at Maranatha on Sunday was beneficial. I dealt with a pretty tough topic in our current The (not so) Perfect Family series. It is great to be in a ministry culture where the truth can be shared and there is a spirit of openness to the teaching. Maranatha is a great church family and God is doing some awesome things among us.

I hope your weekend was great.

I am posting this early in the evening with the hopes of some R and R tonight.

Just one thought from scripture, be blessed by it:
1 Corinthians 2:9 ” No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it— What God has arranged for those who love him. But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.” (MSG)

The Fusion Conference is going very well. I had the chance to present at a session this evening and it felt like I connected with the people who were there.

Below are a few of the things I mentioned as I spoke about Risk in Ministry.

— Robert F. Kennedy “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

An encouragement to wise risk-taking.

Steps to Risk Management in Ministry
When taking a risk: (implementing change)
1. Conduct risk analysis: weigh it out, think it through, pray about it, discuss it…
What is the price? What potentially could happen? Who could get hurt? What is the personal cost?

From 1987 Terry Muck: When to Take a Risk

Categories of decisions (for Pastors):
Theological : questions of doctrine.
Institutional/Organizational (staffing, policy, structure),
Interpersonal (relationships).
What is the toughest ministry decision you have made?
What was the toll , the cost of the decision?
Personal, marriage, children/family, on the church, on the other individuals, on the community
Are there people who have yet to recover?
That’s what we mean by risk.

Analyze!

2. Seek counsel.
Wisdom comes with years.
There are a few short cuts: education, mentoring, coaching.
But there really is no substitute for experience.
Sometimes youth and inexperience gets us into trouble.
We are full of vision and passion and energy.
And sometimes we are full of arrogance.
And sometimes we have a tendency to discount the wisdom of others, especially is they are older (not cool).

I Kings 12:12 Rehoboam refusing to listen to older counselors, those of his father Solomon. He listened instead to “the young men who had grown up with him.” It got him into deep trouble.

There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors, not only those who agree with you.
If all of your advisors agree with you, you need new advisors.

3. Move slowly: (when possible)
Unless the building is on fire, wait a minute.
Make sure you have the credibility and trust of the followers prior to making a big change.
The “24 hours rule” for sending emails and letters.

4. Influence the influencers
(John Maxwell) this take lots of time. Focus groups work well. Let people talk through it.

5. Cast the vision
again and again (not necessarily a big fancy mission statement repeated until people are sick of it) but what God has called you and the church to do. Say as often as you can in as many ways as you can.

Specifically: what unique thing has God called you to do for Him?

6. Connect the risk …
of the vision to the essential core values of the organization.

7. Commit to see it through.
If you bring about change in an organization, stay around to help fulfill the change.

This weekend, we are at the Fusion Conference in Clearwater, Florida. It is a meeting designed for pastors and spouses 40 years old and younger. You don’t have to remind me that I do not belong at this conference. I am not so old that I have forgotten my age.

I have been invited to help out with the meetings and to speak at a session. I am really looking forward to the opportunity. The topic I am addressing is Risk Management in Ministry. My head is full of stuff that I would like to say, but I am in the process of weeding out everything except what God wants me to say.

If you read this before Friday night at 8:30 Eastern (when my session starts), I would appreciate a prayer or two on our behalf. I’ll do my best to post late tomorrow night on how it went and hopefully include a picture of the group.

Peace.

A few years ago, a personal coach taught me the value of thinking in terms of “systems”. The simple illustration he used was an assembly line. He described how, when one worker up the line develops and implements an innovative idea and applies it to the common product, everyone down the line from this person enjoys the benefits. The quality of the product increases and others are now motivated to also make improvements. Workers grow from being mindless robots to becoming creative and motivated innovators. When everyone makes an improvement, the advances are exponential.

That kind of thought development has helped me through the years to see the across-the-board progress that can be experienced when one person takes the initiative to make an improvement. When one person is passionate enough to invest creative energy into a product or service, others notice. This is a principle that should be applied to our organizations. If one person (you) makes one improvement to a project (whatever your team is working on), some great things can be experienced.

In order for this concept to work, we need to assure and provide a few elements:
An atmosphere that encourages creative/innovative thinking – reward those who explore.
Appropriate levels of authority for workers so they can make decisions that can impact the process.
Room to fail – not all innovations succeed. People need enough margin to trip and fall without it becoming fatal.
A culture of healthy risk – encourage dreaming and visioning.
An environment of change. Without change, stagnation occurs. People get bored. Organizations die.
Responsibility for success – make every individual must be responsible for quality and progress.

Isn’t this a great way to view the compounding impact that one person can have? Think in terms of “systems”.