Leadership Thoughts: Farewell for a Season????????

Dear Friends, 

Later this morning I'm heading to the lake for summer vacation, and I will be gone for much of the summer. In the past I've continued writing a daily Leadership Thought while on vacation, but this summer I'm planning to reduce the amount of time I spend at my computer keyboard, so I can enjoy more time with my family and friends. I haven't yet decided how this decision will impact my communication, but hopefully with some time away, I will have a clearer sense of how I would like to spend the next few months. Right now, I plan to take a few days to refresh and recharge (hopefully catch some bass and work in the garden), and after that, I trust I will have a clearer sense of how I will spend the summer.

As I have shared with you before, I write because it is an important, and I believe, a necessary discipline for me. It keeps me reading, thinking, and reflecting on things which are important to me. The more you write, the more you improve, and improvement has always been a goal of my life, regardless of whatever the area in which I have been involved. Yes, I want to  be a better writer and communicator, but I also want to be a better small mouth bass fisherman, flower gardener, pastor, husband, father, grandfather, and a good friend, and all of these things take time and work and the "B Word" balance, something that I have never been particularly good at.

One of the bi products of writing is that I not only get to share with you some of the things that are important to me, while staying in touch with people like  you, friends from the present and the past who have meant so very much to me.

Well, the longer I write, the more this is beginning to feel like a leadership thought, and that was not my intended desire.

My desire was to let you know I'm grateful for your friendship, and to let you know how much I appreciate hearing from you from time to time. I probably wouldn't keep writing without having friends who keep on reading, so thanks for your encouragement. 

As I have said, growth is important to me, so I want to continue growing, and one of the most important areas of growth for me is my spiritual growth. I want to always be "growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).

I hope this summer you might take some time to concentrate on your spiritual growth as well.  Paul writes to the Colossians, "For you have been raised with Christ, (so) set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" Col. 3:1-3).

I hope you will find some time this summer to "set your mind on things above," and that when you do, God will speak to you in ways He has never spoken to you before.

I know it can be an overused cliché, but I don't care if it is: "God loves you and so do I," and that's the truth!" 

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P.S. If you ever stray to areas in Northern New York-we are 60 miles north of Syracuse on Lake Ontario in Henderson Harbor, N.Y- I hope you will give me a call, as Jean and I would love to welcome you. 954 605 2825

Leadership Thought: Do You Know What MMFI Means?

Dear Friends,

One of the rewards of sharing “Leadership Thoughts” is the e-mails I sometimes receive from readers who respond with their personal reactions to what I have written. They often share a comment about what they have learned or experienced regarding the thoughts I've shared. One such e-mail response came yesterday from Marty, who writes: “Your story yesterday of the young restaurant owner assuring the lady there would always be a Diet Dr. Pepper in the cooler for her, reminded me of a slogan a former boss taught us; He made signs for everyone to post above their doors on the inside opening that read ‘MMFI’---simply meaning, ‘Make Me Feel Important’!” Thanks, Marty, for sharing the way one person encouraged you to help make others feel important.

I e-mailed Marty back and shared a few of ways I have learned to help people feel important:

• put your mother’s face on the face of everyone you meet.
• envision a sign hanging around the neck of everyone with whom you speak reading,  ‘please help me feel important.’
• put a 10 on the forehead of everyone with whom you are with.

Thanks Marty, and for those others of you for sharing your thoughts and words of encouragement. They keep me writing.

On the same subject of encouragement, I share some thoughts on the subject from a podcast I listened to yesterday by John Maxwell who is the “King of Encouragement.” The following are some of the thoughts he shared.

“How do you identify someone who needs encouragement? That person is breathing. Truett Cathy (Chick-fil-A founder) Yes, I might add,  no one can live very long without encouragement.

                                                        Five things to know about people:

1. Everybody wants to be a somebody.

2. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

3. Everybody needs somebody.

4. Anybody who helps somebody influences a lot of bodies

5. Today, somebody will rise up and become somebody.

“Encouragement makes people better, People get better when we: value them, praise effort, and reward their performance.”

“There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else.” George M. Adams

“People will go further then they think they can go when someone else thinks they can.”

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to him his own.” Benjamin Disraeli

“Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be. Goethe

I hope one or two of the above thoughts on encouragement will stick with you. I close with my most important thought on encouragement, a thought I memorized many years ago. “Don’t let any unwholesome word come out of your mouths, but only what that which is helpful for building others up according to their need” (Ephesians 4:29).

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to add to your things to do list: Find one person you might encourage, and encourage them for as Samuel Goldwyn was fond of saying, "If you do, you will make two people happy."

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: Little Things Do Make a Difference.

Dear Friends,

“It's the little things that make the difference.” How many times have we heard that expression, and yet its frequency never seems to dull its essential truth? “Little things do make a big difference.” That's why I enjoy shopping at Walmart. The moment I enter the store there is someone there to greet me and make me feel welcome. In the aisles I will see blue vested employees with “How can I help you,” emblazoned on their backs. And when you take the opportunity to ask for information, my experience has been that their service-oriented employees will go out of their way to help assist you. They don’t point. They ‘travel’ with you.

It's the little things that make the difference. A good motel delivers a clean room with a bed. A great motel offers crisp sheets, a guest paper, freshly brewed coffee, and a neatly wrapped piece of chocolate tucked under your pillow. What's the difference? Not much and that just my point. It's the little things that keep you coming back to shop, to rest, and yes, even to go to church.

It is the little things that make a difference in the way people view your church. It's the willingness of its members to do the little things that catch your attention. It's taking time to lead someone to the reception area, rather than just pointing out directions. It's the umbrella offered in the rain, or the smile on the face, and the words, “How may I help you,” from the lips of the church secretary that communicates this church really cares about you.

Many people will visit a church because of a gifted teacher, but the glue that holds them and keeps them coming back is the way they were treated by those who represent the face of Christ? I suggest that it is the little things that make the difference between a one-time visit and a long-time member.

All this reminds me of a story I read titled, “Just What the Doctor Ordered.” A young entrepreneur in Gilmore Texas, opened a fast-food franchise along with two partners. During their first week in operation, he overheard two ladies in the restaurant talking about their disappointment with the soft drink selection. One of the ladies, who was diabetic, wished they had diet Dr Pepper.

The entrepreneur got in his car, drove to the nearest convenience store, purchased a 6 pack of diet Dr Pepper, and returned to his restaurant. Then he brought the lady a cup of ice and a can of the drink.

“Ma'am, he said,  there will always be a case of diet Dr Pepper with your name on it in a refrigerator in the back. Anytime you come, you just tell the person at the counter who you are and that you would like a diet Dr Pepper, and they'll get it for you.”

The woman was shocked.

“Young man,” she said, “I have lived in this town my whole life. I have many influential friends and they will hear what you just did for me. Thank you. From now on, we will be regular customers,”  and she was as good as her word. (Success One Day at a Time, John Maxwell, p. 37).

Rebecca had well learned the principle that little things make a difference.  It all started with drawing water and ended with a husband named Isaac. Eliezer had been sent by Abraham to find a wife for his son Isaac. One day while his camels were needing water, he came upon Rebekah, and he noted something unique about her. It was demonstrated in her drawing of water for his camels. She did so willingly and so quickly. The pots used for carrying water were large and heavy. It took a lot of water to satisfy a thirsty camel- up to 25 gallons per camel after a week’s travel. Seeing Rebecca go to work, Eliezer knew this was a woman with a heart for doing far more than the bare minimum. And it was her service that singled her out, and resulted in her becoming Isaac’s wife (Life Application Study Bible, Genesis 24: 18 -21).

Yes I would like to be more like those Walmart helpful employees, and the young man  who went the extra mile to bring pleasure to a tired and thirsty lady, and like Rebecca, who did more than just the minimum, and in doing so found a husband. But most of all I want to be like Christ, “Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2: 6-7).  

As we go about our day, let's not forget the lesson that “little things make a difference,” because they do.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: How Good Are You at Balancing Truth with Tact? A Parking Lot Experience I Will Never Forget.

Dear Friends,

“Tact and truth are two concepts that rarely mix; However, when they do, one knows that he is in the presence of leadership greatness.”

These words captured my attention this morning as I was reflecting on the difficulty of balancing truth and tact. They were penned by Orrin Woodward in an article he titled “Truth and Tact: The Art of Loving People and Truth.” In his article he quotes the 19^th century writer, J. R Miller who writes, “Evil is wrought by lack of thought-as well as lack of heart.”

I will never forget a note that was left on the windshield of my car a number of years ago. I was in a hurry to pick up a church van, and because I was late, I left my car in the closest space to where the van was to be picked up. A few hours later when I returned the van to the church parking lot, I was surprised to discover a note that had been left on my windshield. It read, “If you're going to park illegally in a handicap space, please use only one, (underlined five times), not 3 spaces! And then what really caught my attention were the final words.  “God bless you.”

I know a lot of people who deliver the truth like a 10-ton truck. You best get out of their way when they have something to say for fear that they will steamroll right over you.

But this brother had a wonderful handle on the skill of communication. He had beautifully mixed together truth and tact. The message was clear, and I received it, and I felt sorry that I had unintentionally created potential problems for others who might wished to have parked in one of the three spaces I occupied. However, he camouflaged the truth of his message with such grace filled tact that I had to laugh when I read his words. “God bless you,” were the honey that helped the medicine go down. I wish I could communicate like him.

Someone said, “Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy,” and my undiscovered security friend had learned that lesson well. Chuck Swindoll eloquently writes, “Tact graces life like fragrance graces a rose. One whiff erases any memory of the thorns.”

Paul exhorts us to let” our speech always be grace filled, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6).

We all know how easy it is to win an argument and lose a friend in the process. There is a time for truth, but it must be delivered gently and with sensitivity lest it not be heard. Solomon writes, “The tongue of the wise brings healing, (Prov 12:18), and “a man has joy in an apt answer and how delightful is a timely word.” (Prov. 15:23).

Today and every day, let's remember that a message delivered gently and sensitively, and yet truthfully, is like the fragrance of a rose and can erase any memory of the thorns.”

I close with the words from J. R Miller who I mentioned above, who wisely writes “There is no better way to acquire this wonder working tact- then by becoming filled with the spirit of Christ. Warm love in the heart for all men, unselfish, thoughtful, kind- will always find some beautiful way to perform its beneficent ministries.”

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

PS. For anyone who would like to read more about the importance of balancing  truth and tact, I encourage you to google “Truth and Tact the Art of Loving People and Truth by Orrin Woodward.” His message includes the excellent article on the same subject by J. R. Miller. 

Leadership Thought: Would You Rather Have Grit or Giftedness?

Dear Friends,

The other day I listened to a podcast where the speaker used the word “grit” in describing a key quality of successful people. I thought to myself that is a great word. It’s a core strength of leaders, and it often determines whether you will fail or succeed in life.

Angela Duckworth, a leading expert on grit, says that, “Grit is passion and sustained persistence applied toward long term achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the way. It combines resilience, ambition and self-control in the pursuit of goals that take months, years and even decades.”

If you possess grit, you are the kind of person who has tenacity, and determination (nothing will keep you from achieving your goals). Grit will help you get up no matter how many times you get knocked down. Grit will overcome a lot of deficiencies in your life. You won’t always be the smartest and most gifted person in the world, but if you have grit, the chances are you will be successful for grittiness will almost always overcome giftedness.

You may possess exceptional talent, gifts, and ability, but without grit, others less talented and with less ability will pass you by. I used to tell my son, slow and steady wins the race. You may not be the first one out of the starting blocks, but life is not a sprint, but a marathon, and if you possess grit, you’ll eventually outdistance the seemingly more gifted in the race.

If you have grit, it means you will work a little harder, last a little longer, fight a little tougher, and in the end your grit will win over other’s giftedness. I would rather have a lot of grit with fewer gifts than a lot of gifts with little grit.

One has no farther to look than the Apostle Paul to find an example of one who possessed grit, and I believe it was this quality that made him the spiritual giant he was. He was steadfast, a great synonym for grit. He never quit or gave up. He never backed down no matter the challenge, and even when death stared him in the eye, death always blinked first. He writes to us, “My dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1  Corinthians 15: 58).

In relating challenges believers would face in the last days when they would come face to face the dangers of spiritual compromise, he exhorts his disciples “To stand firm and you will gain life.

Call it determination, endurance, steadfastness, or grit, we need this quality in our professional and spiritual lives. Like the banking commercial says, “Don’t leave home without it.”

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

 

P.S. David Livingstone said it best. "I will go anywhere-provided it be forward."

Leadership Thought: What Kind of Leader Are You?

Dear Friends,

What kind of leader are you? Are you one who is more concerned about results than relationships, process more than people? Do you lead first and love second or love first and lead second?

Good leaders are able to do both simultaneously. They never lose sight of their goals, what they are called to achieve, but they never forget the people who help them achieve those goals.

The leader can be successful and knowledgeable in his field, and possess a vision to see possibilities long before others see them, but without people skills, he quickly discovers the truth that  “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Everyone who serves on a team wants to know he or she is loved and appreciated. That is why it is so important for a leader to love his people. If a leader doesn’t love his people, it won’t be long before the leader starts manipulating and taking advantage of them.

Long ago I read words I have never forgotten: “A leader leads by serving and serves by leading.” Good leaders both lead their people and love and serve their people.

Research has shown that if employees work in a culture where love, affection, care, and compassion are present, they are more satisfied with their job, more committed to the organization, and are more accountable for their performance. No one wants to work in an environment where the only bottom line is the dollar sign, and where the leader uses his people and doesn’t love his people. When this happens, leaders become more committed to satisfying their investors than investing in their people.

If you don’t love your people, you fail them. You will take advantage of them and abuse them, and in the process, they will lose respect for you, and often this lack of a caring culture will become the company’s demise.

Lording leaders’ want what best for themselves. Loving leaders want what’s best for their people.

The consummate example of leadership is our Lord who taught us to always “love one another” (John 15:12). But then He becomes more specific and takes the challenge to a more daunting level when He tells us that the love, He describes should be the same kind of self-sacrificing love with which He has loved us.

To love your people as Christ loved us, doesn’t mean that a leader neglects accountability or ignores people deficiencies or lowers his expectations of his employees, for the leader who loves his people wants the best for his people and wants them to be their very best.

It has been said that it is wonderful when the people believe in their leader, but it is even more wonderful when the leader believes in and loves his people. That is the kind of win-win situation that every leader and every employee desires.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

Leadership Thought: The Day I Discovered I Was Published.

Dear Friends,

I love to encourage people. I think the reason I love to do so is because I know how much encouragement has meant to me  throughout my life. Writing a daily Leadership Thought is not always easy. Sometimes I wake up very early, and I have no idea what I am going to say, and even when I do think I might have something worth sharing, I have no idea how to express it.  Writing is work and quite honesty there have been a number of  times when I have thought to myself maybe I should reinvest my early morning hours in doing something different, but each time I do, I receive a letter from someone, as I did the other day, encouraging me to continue writing.

The e-mail came from a friend in South Florida, and it was the P.S. that caught my special attention. “II don’t think it’s God’s timing for you to stop writing daily ‘devos.’ Just ‘sayin.’” Thanks, Tina Reeder, for taking the time to encourage me, and thank you for the many others of you who over the years have kept me writing because of your kind and encouraging words.

A few months ago, one of our church leaders surprised me with a gift that I will never forget. It was a book titled The Home Run, Leadership Lessons from the Coach. And guess who wrote it? Below the title in big letters was the author’s name-Tom Crenshaw.

For the last two-year Dan has casually encouraged me to put some of my devotionals in book form, but I had always dismissed the thought as I have never had any self-inflated views of my writing skills. In fact, I write more for my own benefit than for the benefit of others. I write because it is a good discipline and because I know the more, I write the better I will become, and improvement, regardless of the area, is something that I have always sought to pursue.

You and I are different because of the people we have been around. Fortunately, I have been around lid lifters, people who want to lift me to higher levels than where they found me. My mom, my high school and college coaches, pastors I have known, associates with whom I have served, and a multitude of friends like Dan Brennan, Tina Reeder, Ned Newland as well as some of you reading this have been some of my life’s greatest cheerleaders.

Benjamin Disraeli has written, “The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to him his own.”

George Adams writes, “There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else.”

You and I are the products of the people with whom we have associated, unfortunately some may have been like anchors in our boat. They have dragged us down with  words of criticism and disapproval that have left us feeling discouraged and defeated. Others, however, have been the wind beneath our wings. Their  words have lifted us and inspired and encouraged us to be the best we can be.

It has been said that people will go farther than they think they can when someone else thinks they can, and I know this to be true.

Oh, you won’t have to worry about standing in line to purchase my book in Barnes and Noble for only a limited number of copies have been published. In fact, the number is very limited-maybe 25 or so to accommodate my family and a few of my cheerleading friends. However, 25 is a start, so keep your eyes focused on the Best-Selling Books lists, for another 25 may soon be printed. And if you happen to be lucky enough to purchase a copy, please don’t ask me to autograph it, for my neuropic fingers only type but no longer  write.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P.S. Think about someone who might need a little encouragement and send them a note or give them a call. Who knows how high the wind of your words might lift them, but I assure you they’ll enjoy the flight and you’ll enjoy watching them.