Did I accomplish anything today?

Here was my day- not sure a typical day, but thought I would share nonetheless. The important thing to note- only 4 of the “items” below were scheduled. Everything else was spontaneous or general “getting work done” items. Too many meetings planned will equal very few things actually getting accomplished. Here you go:

- 6 am wake up

- at the office by 6:45

- some time for prayer, reading, singing, reflecting, scripture

- 7:15 am catch up on blogs, twitter, and other interesting links

- 7:30 am final listening, editing to the next issue of the Catalyst podcast with Louie Giglio

- 8 am speaker contracts sent out for next event in October 

- 8:30 am new ideas/initiatives for 2010 

- 9 am email and texts 

- 9:30 am meeting regarding some website changes and program/production stuff 

- 10 am marketing budgets review 

- 10:30 am pick on the interns a bit (and give Chad Johnson a hard time)

- 10:40 am work on an endorsement for a friend’s book

- 10:55 am Creative review/edit for ads

- 11:10 am talk through Facebook group and other social media issues 

- 11:30 am call with Ed Stetzer regarding Catalyst October

- noon email 

- 12:30 pm  meet with Lunch n Learn group and talk about systems 

- 1:30 pm work on partnership emails and new marketing channels

- 2:30 pm walk around the office and bother everyone else- waste time; pick on the interns and Melissa Kruse 

- 3:00 pm email; lots of responding to emails and also working on a few deals 

- 4:00 pm watch some of the behind the scenes/backstage footage from Catalyst West Coast 

- 4:30 pm review/edit creative design and copy for tickets and rave cards and new email skins 

- 5:00 pm call with Buddy Stone from Stand in the Gap 

- 5:30 pm work on To Do list 

- 6:00 pm two games of Cornhole with Catalyst team (1-1 by the way) 

- 6:30 pm catch up on voicemails, texts and people to call

- 7:00 pm Dinner with Jon Acuff 

There you have it. Not sure if that is normal or not. Got several things done, but I am not sure I would give today a satisfactory score in the area of accomplishing anything. More moving the ball down the field.

Who I want to meet in the next year

I know, I know, most of these are a total stretch, and might even be considered random. But just putting it out there. If you believe it, you can achieve it! 

1. Denzel Washington

2. John Lasseter (Pixar)

3. Bill Gates

4. Bono

5. Paul Kigame (President of Rwanda)

6. Chris Anderson (TED Conference) 

7. Tony Dungy (Catalyst baby!)

8. Will Smith

9. JJ Abrams 

10. Tony Hawk 

The reason to meet all of these folks- I believe they are the best in the world at what they do, whether acting, performing, directing, coaching, leading, or singing. People at the top of their game who are incredibly excellent at their craft or profession have learned something about greatness, otherwise they wouldn’t be where they are. And I love to learn from those outside of my “normal circle” of influence.

What Happens When someone drops the Ball

Kevin Myers at 12 Stone Church recently did an incredible talk on the issue of “NO Excuses,” and the power of accountability.

We all have experienced this as leaders. You give a big assignment or project to someone on your team, and they lay an egg- totally drop the ball and don’t get it done. We’ve all been there. Both as the goat as well as the one in charge trying to figure out how to handle the situation. 

Let’s look at this situation from both sides, both the own who dropped the ball and the one in charge. 

As the one who dropped the ball, just own up to it. Don’t make excuses. Be self-policing. Be accountable. And be mature. And realize that your leader or your boss or the person in charge is trying to figure out how to deal with your mistake or lack of action- lean into that and bring it up first and tell them it won’t happen again. Don’t wait on them to have to confront you. 

Own up. Grow Up. Shut up. And don’t be the goat again. 

As the leader, four things: 1. confrontation; 2. conversation; 3. restoration; 4. affirmation. The key on this- get through the confrontation and onto to the conversation and restoration as quick as possible. If you have the right kind of person on your team, they feel terrible anyway, so spend very little time confronting, and way more time on restoration and affirmation. 

Reality is, a majority of accountability, both with individuals and with teams, should be built around affirmation. This is not just telling people they are great. That’s part of it. But instead, affirming this person and your team about where you are going as a team, how you are going to get there, and how you are winning. Vision. As a leader, DO NOT withhold affirmation.

Assuming you’ve established trust, a strong level of commitment, and a proper corporate culture, then ultimately affirmation is the greatest power and source of strength for team accountability.

The Essence of Teamwork- Philippians 2

I love the book of Philippians in the New Testament. The entire book is one of Paul’s greatest letters. 

Specifically, chapter 2 is a gem. Paul lays out some strong language regarding teamwork and working together.

Verse 2-5: “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” (New American Standard)

1. Be like-minded.

2. Be loving

3. Be united

4. Be focused (on one purpose)

5. Be selfless

6. Be humble

7. Look out for others before yourself

8. Be Christ-like

Teamwork 101.

Great talk from Benjamin Zander at TED

Benjamin Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and an incredible communicator. His passion for classical music and for helping others catch the vision for music is amazing. This talk at TED last year was one of the all-time favorites. 

Your network- it's changing

I consider myself a networker. On the Strengths Finder assessment, one of my top five is WOO (winning others over). I am a major E on the Myers Briggs. So I tend to spend time thinking through how best to manage the network of friends, associates, partners, and business relationships that have been cultivated over the years.

In high school, I knew all of my classmates by first and last name. In college, I had friends in virtually every fraternity house, sorority house, club, association, and dorm. When I first started my “career” just after college, I was keeping names on a yellow notebook pad, and occasionally putting business cards in a drawer. Amazing that was only 14 years ago.

At that point in the mid 90′s, my network (and probably yours as well) was really defined by a rolodex of business cards of people I had met in person. Then along came email and database management and so your network became defined by your outlook contacts or by a spreadsheet in Excel.

Now, your network is defined by a varied number of relational webs- facebook, linkedin, twitter, blogs, email, myspace, etc. This new phenomenon has allowed our networks to expand exponentially beyond people we actually MEET or KNOW or TALK to in person. And maybe even folks we have nothing in common with currently. 

Used to “networking” meant you “worked a room” and were “shaking hands and patting backs.” Now, in many ways networking is defined by social media and your ability to win someone over to your digital community at large. 

The reality is, you (and I) have never been more connected, and had the tools to stay connected, but in many ways never so disconnected. 

When’s the last time you actually sent a hand written card to someone? When’s the last time you spent a significant amount of time on the phone with someone, instead of a quick text or facebook message? Most folks don’t email or call their network, but instead send a quick tweet or blog post or facebook message. 

This means we all are being forced to change. Change how we both build a network as well as manage our network. And change is difficult.

12 Stone Church and Bohemian Rhapsody

Our own Catalyst staffer Dustin Ahkuoi tore it up this past Sunday at 12 Stone Church singing Bohemian Rhapsody, a very appropriate setup for Kevin Myers teaching. It was off the charts. Complete with background singers and all. Enjoy.