Production vs. Position

It is easy said that leadership is not about position but about serving other. In tough times it easy to forget this and the focus can shift to production. Now the question arises how do I get the production from my team while still maintain my character of servant leadership?

The following is central to the above according to “my world”:
It is said to be trust worthy one needs to be consistent in all circumstances, one need to be competent and lastly dependable.
One’s choices must be reflecting that one has all stakeholders at heart and not making choices to cover one’s own ass or playing for the crowd.
One must give recognition to the team members that contribute to even the small successes.
Did one realise that credibly is a victory and not a gift? I takes continues effort to build.
Lastly the above is in my mind all part of character. Now the question can be asked do I work on these elements of my character or am I building my image that I want the world to see?
Just as afterthoughts never forget good honest communication and feedback so that everybody knows what you think and do?
Best wishes on your journey of growth.

Learn from other...through reading

Books enable us to gain from the knowledge base of other men and women who have lived in the past and the present. However we must be prepared to be open to new learning as we read to be able to see the world through their eyes, else we will stay stuck in our own way of seeing.

It is said that the way we look at the world, will result in our way of doing and that will lead to the results we get.

So what will keep us from getting new perspectives on life?
Let’s listen to the stories we hear, read and learn, and be open to see the world in a fresh perspective. Remember then to try it out…else it was nice to know

Happiness

The question most probably can be asked what happiness is. Neil Kaufman writes in his book, Happiness is a choice, that the following six principals are central to happiness:
Make happiness the priority
Personal Authenticity
Letting go of judgments
Being present
Being grateful
Deciding to be happy.

Looking at principal two to five, it leaves me with the thought that Mindfulness will be key to these principals.

Mindfulness can be described as the ability to stop for a moment or minutes and just to be, to be quite and to be aware of one’s thoughts but to direct it back to the moment or to one’s breathe.

“Mindfulness/Meditation can do that which nothing else can do, it introduces you to yourself.” Swami Rama.

What a way to stop: To learn one better, to be aware of our thoughts, to develop the discipline of presence and lastly to develop the skill to be able to evolve to a being to life live to its fullest.

Secondly to be grateful for the small things, I heard of somebody that got into the practice to say thank you everyday for something that they did not say thank you for before…. Make one think.

Values at work...

This morning I heard an interesting way The “Kleipot Gemeente” run their way of interacting as a Christian community, based on values, with the following metaphors:
1 : God is central with, God’s massage of love,
Clock : God is 24/7 Central to each members life,
Plug : Time spend with God, to connect with God and get his message and power for one’s life. Prayer and “Being quite” before God.
Bread: Community with people, to share with the people one like and do not like.
Puzzle: Accept all people for their unique gifts they can contribute.
Shoes: Carry out the message of God, but also putting yourself in the shoes of other, to really understand their world.
Downward slope: Move away from the EGO, and always ask what Jesus will do in the situation.

This was a beautiful message that I will take with me on my journey through life.

I pray that your week be blessed, with God’s graze.

The “Kleipot community” blogspace is: http://www.kleipotgemeente.org/

Live life to its fullest...

Life is not a problem to solve but a gift to cherish. Author Unknown.
This words let me think....then it takes my thoughts to the first verse of a poem of Russel Kelfer...
You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You’re a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God’s special woman or man.

As we know life on earth is only temporary, why would we not live, life to the fullest to glorify God in everything we do?

Relax...

The following is a great recipe to have a nice relaxing bath.

Take:
1 Cup Sea salt
1 Cup Baking soda

Put the above ingredients into the tub, now fill it up with nice warm water.

Lastly add your two or three drop of your favorite aromatic oil, lavender or peppermint what ever you are in the mode for.

Now jump in and relax for twenty minutes, preferable not longer as it can exhaust you if you spent too much time laying in the bath.

Leaders with chests….

No I do not want you to gym to have a big chest to be able to be a good leader.

I want to share a few thoughts on integral way of being. Where do we make decisions?

The sensation in or belly give a sensation in our body.

The feeling in our chest gives us a sensation about how we feel about the situation, influenced by our character and spirit.

Lastly our minds, where the decision are made. This is where we have choice; will I allow my chest and belly to give me direction, or am I going to let my decision be pure cognitive decisions.

An integral approach will take us to the next level.

Habits determine our day to day actions. Our day to day actions create our lives. So how is habits created. The following is a good philosophy around habits:


Know how? I would refer to my world of know. What is my knowledge, what are my world views? Right or wrong does not matter.

How do I execute? This also refers to the process is follow. What is my Behaviour, emotions and thoughts regarding the matter? Secondly what is the language I use, with specific reference to my preferred sensory style? Thirdly the how in terms of the process?

How do I see? This in my mind refers to my values, my culture and my attitude?

This leaves me with the question, how does the above influence me to perform optimally?

Desire

Language is actually profound, the words desire and need at first site had more or less the same context for me at first glance. However with some reflection I now see them quite differently and it will also make some decision much easier, in future.

You see the question I will ask myself in future is the following: Do I need something or do I have a desire to have it?

Desire then ego centric; I want vs. a specific need….

Leadership...If things does not work.

Leadership...

Sometimes things do not want to turn out as we want it, what can then be going wrong?

If we do not get out plans to execution we need to look at the following:

The hard stuff:
Do we have clear goals, not more than three crucial drivers, and everybody in the company is clear on it?
Roles. Who is responsible for what?
Processes. How must things be done? Are the tools to do the job in place? Is the process effective?
Soft stuff:
Process
Thinking = Climate / Culture / Attitude of employees and company
Who is responsible for decisions? Empowerment?
How is problems handled? Active or Reactive?
Communication.
Leadership style. Is it relevant to the cycle of the business? Is it adaptable for different scenarios?
Conflict, how is it dealt with?
Interpersonal
Diversity. To create innovation. To value people for what they can contribute.
Personality differences.
Trust???

Enjoy jour week.

The rat race...

Whilst reflecting on the rat race we are engage in every day… With responsibilities as husband, farther, a job and I enjoy it by the way and the list goes on.

Being realistic we all just have twenty four hours per day, so what we keep ourselves busy each day will determine the outcome of our lives. The question most probably is then what are the actions in our do lists?
Is it actions that take us nearer to our goals?
Is it actions whereby we live out our gifts?
Is it actions that create a legacy for us or is it to please other or to please our own ego’s?
Is our actions balanced to contribute to the following parts of our lives?

We must reflect on what we do to ourselves in this rat race, our days could be filled with joy living to the fullest each day, our just surviving.

What will people say looking back at your live, it was a live lived to create a legacy or will they put an inscription on your tombstone:

To do done
Dead anyway!

GOING WHERE?

Yesterday I had to go and do a presentation in the Rustenburg area. My customary way of planning would normally have let me to work out on a map what is the most appropriate route to drive, also to take into account the road I am most accustomed to.

However this time I trusted the GPS. So on my way, GPS set on the shortest route to the venue. So initially it took me on the roads I usually would have travelled. Then it started taking me on roads I did not now, and then on a fourteen kilometer dirt road and then another thirty k’s of dirt road.

Plus minus four k’s along this road, I got a sign; “traveling along this road is at your own risk.” So what now, do I go along or turn back and trust the “recalculation” for a better road. So I thought let I go ahead, the road was bad but the scenery beautiful.

Driving slowly and enjoying the scenery despite the adverse road conditions, my thoughts wondered to the words I so easy pray: “ Lord let your will be done.” As with the dirt road, I so easy start to wonder if the road is not what I expected, however the Lord will always get me to the destination in His time and in His way. So what would the reason be that I do not enjoy the ride? Is it that I do not trust, or is it that my Ego get’s in the way, or could it be that I just don’t want to let go?

May you have a wonderful weekend.

God bless.

Pragtige woorde...

Pragtige paar woorde vanoggend per sms’s ontvang en deel dit graag:

Toe ek wakker word vra ek mysêlf waaroor die lewe eintlik gaan? Is alles die moeite werd? Toe kry ek die antwoord in my kamer!
Plafon sê: Mik hoog!
Venster sê: Kyk na die wereld daar buite!
Weker sê: Elke minuut is so kosbaar!
Spieel sê: Jy is uniek!
Kalender sê: Vandag is die eerste dag van die res van jou lewe!
Deur sê: Druk hard om doel te bereik!
Mat sê: Kniel en dank God vir ’n nuwe dag!
Bed sê: Staan op.
God sê:Ek is met jou en sal jou nooit verlaat nie.

Skrywer: Anoniem.

Leadership

At the Ken Blanchard Presidential Leadership summit during May 2008 the panel consisting of some of the world’s most influential leadership guru’s determined the following four broad leadership competencies as the most important:

Self Awareness.
The ability to create and manage highly effective teams.
The ability to listen to diverse opinions.
Having a strong set of core values.

Interesting… again looking at these competencies how integrated they are and all starting with the self. Self I define as a conscious/mindful contributor, in this context.

Merry-go-round

Merry-go-round or Worry-go-round…..

How are you living your life, how am I living my life, as a happy chap or long faced and sorry for my self. The questions that we need most probably have to answer firstly to ourselves are the following:
· Am I happy?
· What am I living for?
· Are my thoughts in the past? Worry about things that I can not change.
· Are my thoughts in the future? Thoughts about things what might happen.

We must remember that I thought shape our lives.

Dr Andrew Weil once said the following:” Wherever nerves are, activities of the mind can travel.”So thoughts don’t only influence our moments of tomorrow in terms of our actions but also in terms of our health and our mood.

So lets remember the merry-go-round and keep our thoughts in the moment and enjoy each moment of the ride on the carousel….like kids.

Enjoy your week.

THOUGHT

Advise and counsel him; if he does not listen, let adversity teach him.

African proverb (Ethiopia)