Leadership

Who Can Be Trusted? A Translation of Psalm 15   Lord, who can be trusted with power, and who may act in your place? Those with a passion for justice, who speak the truth from their hearts; who have let go of selfish interests and grown beyond their own lives; who see the wretched as their family and the poor as their flesh and blood. They alone are impartial and worthy of the people’s trust. Their compassion lights up the whole earth, and their kindness endures forever. Stephen Mitchell Source: A Book of Psalms

 

Leadership. . .right NOW!

So proud of my dear friend, Rev. Gerald Britt and so is The Dallas Morning News!

Check this out!

It's all about the "why?"

Assumptions. . .about ownership

Possession

Because the tea shop was crowded, a man took the other chair at her table and ordered tea. The woman [already seated there] was prepared for a leisurely time, so she began to read her paper. As she did so, she took a cookie from the package on the table, and noticed that the man across from her also took a cookie from the same package. This upset her greatly, but she ignored it and kept reading. After a while she took another cookie. And so did he! This unnerved her and she glared at the man.

While she glared, he reached for the fifth and last cookie, smiled and offered her half of it. She was indignant. She paid her money and left in a great hurry, enraged at such a presumptuous man. She hurried to her bus stop just outside. She opened her purse to get her fare. And then she saw, much to her distress, that in her purse was her own package of cookies unopened.

Told by Walter Brueggemann
Source: Voices of the Night

Flying without a net. . .

One of the real "upside" factors of my work is the board of directors serving and providing governance to our organization.

These wonderful men and women give so freely and sacrificially of their time, talent, money, ideas, commitment and encouragement.  I recognize how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to work alongside such an amazing group of people.

At virtually every meeting of our board something encouraging, insightful, surprising and challenging comes up or is said.  Most of the really exceptional stuff just arises out of the context of our work and our conversation.

Last night at our regular quarterly meeting the discussion turned intense as we laid out challenges, amazing opportunities and a sense of progress and momentum.

Craig Spaulding, an incredibly accomplished senior housing developer, fly fisherman and financial genius, spoke up to say, "Larry, it must be hard flying without a net for so many years."  

Never before had I thought of my work in quite those terms.  However, as I pondered his comment, made in the midst of his explanation of a very creative idea to provide relief for ongoing cash flow issues, I saw his point and had to agree.

We do fly without a net a good bit of the time around here!

As our meeting went on, I couldn't stop thinking about his metaphor.

Then, it hit me:  "We fly without a net around here whenever we have to because the people we love so much live without nets almost all of the time."  

The intermingling of ideas, values, helpful engagement and passionate concern for and connection with "our people" never ceases to amaze me.

In fact, this is the essence of CitySquare.

T. Boone Pickens on Leadership

Misunderstood

A heavy and cruel hand has been laid upon us. As a people, we feel ourselves to be not only deeply injured, but grossly misunderstood. Our white countrymen do not know us. They are strangers to our character, ignorant of our capacity, oblivious to our history and progress, and are misinformed as to the principles and ideas that control and guide us, as a people. The great mass of American citizens estimates us as being a characterless and purposeless people; and hence we hold up our heads, if at all, against the withering influences of a nation’s scorn and contempt.

 

Frederick Douglas, in a statement on behalf of delegates to the National Colored Convention held in Rochester, New York, in July 1853

For leaders to avoid. . .

16 Things Successful Leaders Never Do

1. Never let the bottom line be the bottom line.
2. Never pretend things are ok when they aren’t.
3. Never let what you’ve never done be the reason not to try.
4. Never get ahead by resenting those who get ahead.
5. Never let those who aren’t doing something prevent you for doing something.
6. Never do on the road what you wouldn’t do at home.
7. Never trust anyone who never admits mistakes.
8. Never achieve greatness through negativity.
9. Never pretend you can do what you can’t.
10. Never let others fail before doing everything appropriate to help them succeed.
11. “An executive has never suffered because his subordinates were strong and effective.” Peter Drucker
12. Never find wisdom in excuses, defensiveness, or blame.
13. Never think loyalty is a gift.
14. Never waffle when it comes to taking responsibility.
15. Never waver when it comes to giving credit.
16. Never make excuses. “Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them.” JohnWooden

Bonus: Never create the future by recreating the past.