What is important to me?
A recent post from www.andrew.org.nz
http://bit.ly/LTzCRQI wonder what important parcels or documents are on board this DHL plane? I am sure that somewhere a person waits for the arrival of a parcel, that is possibly the most important thing in their life right now.
At the conference, most of the speakers felt like they had something important to say. They have important jobs, and it was critical they get their learning across.
Important comes from the word import. To import means to ‘bring in’. We can tell what is important in our lives by the things we ‘bring in’. What we buy, how we spend our downtime, who we talk to, all indicate the things we think are important.
Lets be honest for a moment. Important focuses on ME!
Exportant is not a word but maybe it should be. It would mean to ‘give out’. Maybe our lives should be measured less by what we bring in and more measured by what we give out.
Then how we spend our money, our downtime and how we talk to people, would be focused on what we give out, rather than what we bring in.
Then we would be exportant.
And most probably what we actually do, would become genuinely important.
Filed under: Leadership, Learning, Living Vividly, People, Uncategorized Tagged: Exportant, Important, Priorities
‘Debrief’ | A lot of conferences are a waste of time and money. Not because the content is bad, but because we don’t debrief the conference and decide on next actions. I managed to find the great spot, on a beautiful day to debrief CeBIT. Perfect! | 146 of #366
Then they followed him.
“’Lord,’ they said, ‘we want to see!’ Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him.” - Matthew 20:33-34
Then they followed him…
I wonder what the conversation would have been like as they followed Jesus? As they saw for the first time. The sense of amazement as they gazed upon the sights we take for granted? I wonder what their interaction with Jesus and the disciples and the crowd was like?
I wonder how far they followed him? I wonder if they followed Jesus to the cross? I wonder if they were in the 120 people in the upper room waiting?
Besides all the unobtainable curiosity I have about these two blind men, I am struck by one thing:
As they encountered Jesus and were touched by him and came face to face with him and were healed. Their immediate response was to follow him.
Ours should be the same.
‘Magical’ | Headed down to Circular Quay for Vivid Sydney a day early. Still a magical atmosphere and mystical harbour bridge. 145 of #366
‘Level 42’ | Got to watch an amazing sunset in Sydney from my Level 42 apartment while listening to Level 42 music for nostalgics sake. 144 of #366
‘Metropolis’ | My friend from Sydney asked me how I find the time to do everything I do. My answer was simple, “I don’t spent 3 hours a day commuting.” I love big cities but don’t have the desire to lose 31 full days of each year on a train. Yes that’s a whole month of 24 hour days on a train! 143 of #366
‘Stowaway’ | Not enough room in my bag to take Kyla’s teddy bear to Sydney this time. 142 of #366
‘Conversation’ | Shortly after taking this photo, our discussion changed to the boys who drove past and threw eggs at us. The missed, but provided me with an opportunity to speak into my sons life.
Learning to be decisive and the two things that stop me.
A recent post from www.andrew.org.nz
http://bit.ly/LB9I16After more than 10 years my picture of the moment is more like a bird’s eye view, than sitting in the seat of the car I was driving. From up above I remember the exact place I was parked on the motorway on-ramp, while waiting to converge with the peak hour traffic. I remember the car, the weather and my mood.
Most importantly I remember the conclusion of my self-talk.
“I will make a decision within 24 hours if I have all the information I need, or I will request more information”
It was a decision to be decisive. A resolve not to be a bottleneck. A drive to allow people to move forward with their jobs and projects, quickly and effectively.
It was a verdict against indecisiveness.
Over my years I have often seen very intelligent managers rendered almost ineffective as leaders, because they cannot make decisions.
It would be great if I could tell you I always make decisions quickly, but I falter and generally there are two reasons I’m not decisive;
- I fool myself into believing I must have 99.99% certainty before making the call, which I barely ever get, so I sit on it. Over think it. And wait … and wait.
- I know the decision that needs to be made, but it is hard. It involves hard conversations that people might not like. People might not like me. So I do nothing.
In both cases, my indecisiveness annoys the people I work with, and cripples the organisation I am trying to lead.
To be sure being decisive has risk. Making a decision with only 60% of the information can mean you get it wrong. It can cost money. It can make you look bad. Really bad!
But from my experience, you also make a heap more good decisions than bad. And the good decisions seem to out multiply the bad.
When I left the job I had at the time, two of my team independently told me I was the most decisive manager they ever had.
Of course being decisive applies to every area of our lives.
The implication; decide to be decisive.
Filed under: Agoge, Leadership, Looking Back
‘Wailing Wall’ | Karina went to the ‘Girls with Soul’ day and took this photo of their creative wailing wall. A place to come before the One who hears the cries of all who call out to Him. 140 of #366
