THE ART OF BOOTSTRAPPING
Great leaders (entrepreneurs) know and understand that being successful often means pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. Here is a great blog by Guy Kawasaki that will teach you the art of bootstrapping.

-Available at: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/the_art_of_boot.html

This is a great article on time managment. It is short and to the point. It is also very practical. Anyone (like myself) who struggles with time management should read this.

Go to http://www.refresher.com/adnltime.html

One of my best friends in the whole world, Nelson Searcy (www.nyjourney.com), sent me an email this evening with some of his favorite quotes from Harvey Mackay (one of MY favorite business writers). Here are a couple of them. Here are some of my favorites from the list. *I'll share them all later...

"Do what you love ... love what you do ... and deliver more than you promise."

"We are judged by what we finish, not by what we start."

"Little things don't mean a lot, they mean everything."

"There is a place in the world (or on the team) for anyone who says, 'I'll take care of it.'"

Chew on these a while...

Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks of changing himself.

-Tolstoy

James Bond (007), a secret agent in his Majesty's Service, can teach us some things about our work in His Majesty's Service - the church. These business principles make an easy crossover into the church world.

Link: http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/leadership/article171356.html

Topics: Business, Entrepreneur, Management, Marketing

Actually I'm working on three big things right now in my personal and leadership life.

• I'm working a personal life plan that will help me focus on the three or four things that only I can do at Rocky River. I am thinking they are: 1) Primary teacher, 2) Vision Caster, 3) Staff Leader, and 4) Church Marketer (I am very particular about the church "brand"). [Thanks Gary – www.garylamb.org.]

• I am working with a Simple Church coach to help me figure out a flow chart to help us involve more leaders. We have a new leadership lid on the church keeping us at around 300. This new plan will put in a leadership structure that will help us grow beyond 700 people.

• I love church planters! I really want to help church planters with their strategy and other pressure points. I am going to give one Thursday a month to helping church planters. I’m putting stuff together now. I'll be publishing it soon.

Karen called me on her way to work this morning to tell me that she heard on the radio this morning that the former US Presidents (all of them I think) and George W. Bush are going to be in attendance today when Billy Graham’s library is dedicated. That is cool. I love Billy Graham too. I appreciate what he has done for this country. He deserves this kind of recognition. What has he done you might ask? For one thing he created a climate of evangelism in this country. Can you imagine how bad the 60’s and 70’s would have been without him? He has also been a counselor and a source of strength for our Presidents going back at least to the Kennedy’s. And he has been our nation’s Pastor since the 60’s. So again, he deserves the presence of the Presidents and other national leaders.

But here’s my beef. I think Jerry Falwell deserved to have these same men at his funeral. Okay, I can understand why Carter and Clinton wouldn’t be there. But Bush 1 and Bush II should have been. And I believe the reason they are going to be at Graham’s library opening is because that is a SAFE way to get the evangelical support for their party. And the reason they didn’t have the guts to show up at Jerry’s Falwell’s funeral is because it was dangerous politically. And don’t tell me that the Bush’s have personal ties with the Grahams. That may be true but they also had personal ties with Jerry Falwell. In fact, the Bush’s may owe their presidencies to Jerry Falwell!

I know I have already blogged the whole funeral thing and that’s not really my point for this blog. My point is that the problem in this country today is the whimpish, SAFE, non-risk taking, politically correct leadership that abounds these days. And it’s not just a Bush thing. Carter, who wants to say that George W. Bush has had the worst administration in US history, is sadly mistaken. I remember the Iranian Crisis, gas lines, fuel shortages, and interest rates so high that owning a home was impossible for many people – all during the Carter Administration. And Clinton – I don’t think he ever made a decision without licking his finger and sticking it into the air to see which way the wind was blowing. He led by opinion polls.

My point is not Democrat or Republican. It’s leadership. And we have a huge leadership vacuum today. And not just in the White House. It is in business and industry, academia and the church too. There are no more Patrick Henry’s who said to the Continental Congress in 1775, “Give me liberty or give me death!” Gone are the Winston Churchill’s who said (as the British were being pounded by the Germans in 1940 and nearly down for the count, “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...” Where is a Billy Graham type preacher today who will take the risk of renting a stadium and praying lost people into the seats and to the altar? Where is a Jerry Falwell who will put it all on the line – right or wrong – for what he believes? Where are the city builders and Henry Ford’s and “captains of industry”? Today’s business leaders don’t innovate and lead change and make better products to increase their profit margins. Instead, they send jobs to India, buy junk from China, and lay people off. That is not leadership!

In serious times we need serious leaders with backbone – leaders who were worth following. Brothers, these are series times! We need leaders!

Here is a great leadership article that will help you maintain your leadership edge. Get busy learning…

“The Five Biggest Customer Service Blunders of All Time”
-CEO Refresher
-Customer (guest/attenders) service is one of the most important things we do in church, yet so many of us screw it up. Here’s an article from the business world that will help us raise the level of customer service in our church. And by the way, we shouldn’t have to look to the business world to help us with customer SERVICE! The business world should be looking to us.
- http://www.refresher.com/apllfive.html
-Topics: Customer service

I face criticism constantly these days - seriously. God is really blessing our church and when that happens the "nuts" come out to point out all of your faults and shortcomings. I don't handle criticism, good or bad, very well because I tend to be a people pleaser. Since this has been a big issue lately I have been looking for resources that will help me deal with good critics and nuts. Here's one of the best I've found. It is a great podcast by Nelson Searcy at Church Leader Insights and it has been really helpful to me. BTW, this is a good resource for any leader, not just pastors. Give this a listen at http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/podcasting/index.php?id=50

Sounds like a headline doesn't it?! It should be the headline of my life. I'm going to talk about my sins (one sin in particular) on Sunday. I am a repeat violator of the 4th commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) - "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." This Sunday at Rocky River Community Church I am going to talk about what the Sabbath is, why God wants us to remember it, and how we are supposed to remember it. Specifically, I'm going to talk about the importance of taking a day off (1 in every 7) for rest. Ironically, I'm blogging this from my office - ON MY DAY OFF! :)

Anyway, I look forward to seeing you Sunday for this IMPORTANT LifeTalk. Be sure to bring your friends with you...!