We all have blind spots.  You can’t see them!  We can’t avoid them and probably will never get rid of them!  Seems obvious, but YOU aren’t in the best position to see your blind spots or to know how they are affecting the people you lead and the relationships you’re in.

Here’s what I’m learning as I lead:

Your greatest strengths can also do damage to your team dynamics. You tend to think that everyone values the same things you value and that everyone is good at the same thing that we are good at.

NOT TRUE!

Over the next few weeks I invite you to join me as I read Strength Finder 2.0.  Strengths Finder 2.0 is the follow up to Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton’s Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book includes a revamped version of the StrengthsFinder test that shows you not just what your top five strengths are, but also how you rank in the rest of the 34 strengths from Buckingham & Clifton’s model.

I recommend that you get the Strength Finder’s book. It’s a great tool to have on your shelf.  After reading the book and completing the Strength Finder survey, I will post my results and encourage you to do the same.  I hope this discussion will encourage you to become more aware of your own blind spots.  Please join me on this amazing journey.

Are you up for the challenge?

A leader must develop a disciplined and prudent character so that they will do what’s right, just, & fair.  The rub comes when the leader doesn’t know what is just right, and fair.  That’s why Solomon cautioned that ‘inexperienced’ leaders need wisdom.  Proverbs isn’t a decision-making textbook, but this wisdom-packed book is God’s gift to help us make the best decisions possible.

Proverbs 1:1-6 informs us that the proverbs to follow will help the reader develop the mental sharpness needed to process complex information.  Even though technology helps us gather and manipulate information, a sharp mind must still apply solid logic to that information in order to make good decisions.

The proverbs help us to accomplish this goal in a godly manner.  They sharpen the mind and reveal God’s insight to ensure that our decisions may be in sync with his eternal perspective.  Therefore, I encourage to read these verses again, this time including verse 7.  Then study the Book of Proverbs as a foundation for exceptional decisions making.

Question: Have you ever made decisions without consulting God?  If so, what was the outcome?

Last Sunday, over 101 million people (surpassed the season finale of M.A.S.H.) tuned in and saw a great game.  Additionally, I’m led to believe the majority of those watching were equally interested in the commercials.  Many commercials made me laugh out loud (David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, and Jay Leno & The E-Trade babies), while others confused me (men walking around in their underwear).

In my opinion, Google is the winner… Never thought a search engine would create emotion with a story just from searching…BRILLIANT!  You’ll notice the ad needs no catchy music, artwork, or flashy tricks to tell its story. They’re no gimmicks, no celebrity endorsement, no Photoshopped images, or any dubbed voices.

It’s the simplest of stories: A guy gets a girl.
Even shows you that you don’t have to know how to spell Louvre.

Here’s what I learned from Google’s ad:

1. Their ad was simple
2. Their ad showed the power of their product by demonstrating it
3. Their ad told an entire story
4. The Google logo was seen throughout. (Kinda nice to know who the actual advertiser is.)

What were your favorite Superbowl ads & what lessons did you learn from them?

Two ways: SIMPLIFY and CLARIFY!

Recently, I accompanied Shauntai (my wife) to the grocery store and was quickly overwhelmed with how many brands and types of toothpaste there were.  In the typical Target store, you confront rows of over sixty options, including pastes with whitener, tartar control, breath-freshening, baking powder, tube and pump, in over a dozen different brands (what ever happened to just plain ole Crest) .

Let’s be honest: We all FEEL overwhelmed. Our DVD players have more functions that we can learn.  When something goes wrong, few of us know what to do.

Additionally, we ARE overwhelmed. Everyone you deal with is overwhelmed.  Whatever you want to communicate to them, you must learn to do it simply and clearly.

The first rule in communication is:
Communicate so that you cannot be misunderstood.

Clarity inspires trust. We worry about the opposite: we fear that people we do not understand may be concealing something.  We suspect the confusion might be a smoke screen, intended to keep us from the truth.

Clarity inspires faith. We assume, as jurors assume when they hear expert witnesses, that a person who communicates clearly understands her subject.  I remember reading somewhere where a leading jury conslulting firm discovered that people regard “clarity” as the signal trait of a true expert!

Here’s The Point:
Make yourself clearer, and people will think you’re an expert.

What tips do you have to share that’ll help others to simplify and clarify their message/product/service?

The reason that many successful people had mentors is that people destined to succeed ATTRACT all kings of people, including mentors.  They attract mentors, fans, followers, and even HATERS.  So the way to attract a mentor is to display those traits that will lead you to success anyway.  Like begets like.  Birds of a feather flock together.  Will a mentor lead you there?  Perhaps.  Will one help you in some smaller way?  No Doubt.

Here’s my advice: Don’t seek just ONE mentor.  Instead, focus on doing the things that might attract people, including mentors.  If you do find a mentor, make sure you include others.  Remember, mentors are people, people are fallible, and even gifted doctors misdiagnose.  Fortunately in many of those cases, the patient sought second and third opinions.  YOU SHOULD TOO!

Having just one mentor is overrated;
having several is not.

What do you think?  Do you agree or disagree?

FYI: I thinking about starting a mentoring group this Spring.  If you are interested and live in the greater Chicago area—please email me (urban.pastor@gmail.com) and I will outline the details for you.

Our leaders met this past Thursday to discuss and discern what God would have us to do corporately regarding the tragedy that rocked Haiti.  Although there are some conservative Christians labeling this as “God’s judgment,” we, however will take the high road & pray prayers bold enough to “WAKE… GOD UP.”   Please click the link for more information & join us!

MHBC Response to Haiti Tragedy 2010

What specifically will you do to respond to this tragedy?

People all over the country are choosing to move their money out of bigger banks and into smaller, community-oriented financial institutions that generally avoided the reckless investments and schemes that helped cause the financial crisis.

Fueled by the personal initiatives of thousands, it’s a grassroots effort that has the potential to shift power in the financial system away from Wall Street and to Our Street.  Keith Olbermann of MSNBC got behind the Move Your Money campaign on his show.  He believes: “It’s time to make those Too Big To Fail banks just a little bit smaller by moving your money to a local credit union or community bank.”

Stephanie Frost decided that she had been mistreated at her big bank for too long and enough is enough — she’s switching to a small financial institution.  She filmed herself going to close her account and posted the video to YouTube:

The Move Your Money Movement
…For the people, by the people…

Dr. Reynaldo Anderson, my fraternity brother posed this question on Facebook: What would happen if churches got behind this movement?  As I pondered that question, I estimate church goers give BILLIONS to their churches each year.

Additionally, I’m sure most of it is deposited into bailed-out banks – the same banks that refuse to lend to our members & their small businesses.  Imagine what would happen if Protestants, Catholics (net worth estimated @ $1 trillion or more), & all other religions were to band together and MOVE OUR MONEY!  I guarantee they’ll call us in for a congressional hearing.

Rey, I’m on it!

In order to make my resolutions stick, I decided to employ Michael Hyatt’s four strategies found here.  Therefore, let it be resolved:

1. That I will read through the entire Bible by December 31, 2010 using YouVersion’s Chronological plan as my guide (started Day 1 yesterday).
2. That I will lose fifteen pounds (current weight: 217) by exercising a minimum of 3 days per week with a minimum of 20 minutes of cardio during each exercise session.  I will accomplish this by July 30, 2010
3. That I will continue to resist the lure, draw, and undeniable seductiveness of late night unhealthy snacks like candy, soda, cookies, & other fattening foods and replace them with fruit.
4. That I will finish the first draft of my new book by June 30, 2010.
5. That I will write at least three posts per week on my personal blog, where I share my thoughts/ideas on leadership from an urban perspective and some general life musings.

So let it be noted.  So let it be done.  And please give me a swift kick in the rear end if you see me getting off track.

What are your goals & have you gone public with them?

For all 48 questions, you will need to check out Ed Stetzer’s original post. Here are my top 15 personal favorites:

1. Have I spent adequate time in Bible study and prayer?
2. Did the Bible live in me today?
3. Am I enjoying prayer?
4. Have I given priority time to my family?
5. How do I spend my spare time?
6. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
7. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
8. Have I been with a woman anywhere this past week that might be seen as compromising?
9. Have I been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed my mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not my spouse this week?
10. Have any of my financial dealings lacked integrity?
11. Have I secretly wished for another’s misfortune so that I might excel?
12. Have I damaged another person by my words, either behind their back or face-to-face?
13. Is there anything that has dampened my zeal for Christ?
14. Is Christ real to me?
15. Have I been completely honest with myself?

What are some of your accountability questions?

All three of these skills can better be implemented in any reputable driving range/putt-putt/go-cart facility without having to walk around aimlessly all afternoon (Here’s a million-dollar idea – anyone want to partner with me on this).  If you want to master golf, there’s a steep price you must pay mentally, physically, and financially.  The same could be said for those who aspire to be great leaders.

Can you drink of the cup that I drink of… (Mark 10:38)

No one should aspire to lead God’s work if they are not prepared to pay a price greater than his contemporaries and colleagues are willing to pay.  True leadership always exacts a heavy toll on the leader and the more effective their leadership is, the higher the price to be paid.  The cost of every great achievement is not paid in a lump.  It is bought on a payment plan, with installments paid daily.

1^st Installment: Loneliness

From its very nature, the lot of the leader must be a lonely one.  They must always be ahead of their followers.  Human nature craves company, and it is only natural to wish to share with others the heavy burdens of responsibility and care.  It’s often heartbreaking to have to make important decisions, which affect the lives of others alone.  This is one of the heaviest prices to pay, but it must be paid.

Moses paid this price for his leadership – alone on the mountain…alone in the plain…alone when criticized.  The socially conscious Apostle Paul (He would’ve loved Facebook & Twitter) was a lonely man who experienced the bitterness of being misunderstood by his contemporaries, misrepresentation by his enemies, and desertion by his friends.

“Most of the world’s great souls have been lonely,” wrote A.W. Tozer.  Leaders must be people who, while welcoming the friendship and support of all who can offer it, has sufficient inner resources to stand alone, even in the face of fierce opposition.

As a leader, how do you deal with loneliness?

Coming Soon…2^nd Installment: Self-Sacrifice